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Email is easy and can reach a wide range of residents. Polco lets you create email lists, so that you can let residents know when you need their input. Once in Polco, these lists will be available to you when you publish polls and surveys at the Outreach step. You can include any email lists you'd like and members of those lists will receive an email invitation to provide input. You can do this directly from the Polco platform via the email lists feature. To create an email list: Navigate to the outreach tab on the left side menu. Under “Email Lists,” click “create a list.” Name your email list (i.e. “City Residents,” “Downtown Businesses,” etc.). You can copy and paste a list of email addresses from an Excel spreadsheet, Google doc, or other format. Once you’ve added the email addresses, click “Add.” If you need to make any changes to these email lists or add a new list, you can do this at any time from the Outreach tab. When you are about to publish a survey or poll, you’ll have t
About RolesPolco makes it easy for profile administrators to create and manage user accounts, assign roles and permissions, and control access to various features and functionalities. Roles allow you to assign the appropriate level of access for each administrative user, ensuring that your organization can confidently and efficiently work together within Polco. To view Polco’s roles and permissions, navigate to the Account Settings menu using the left sidebar. This will open the Administrators account management page. At the top, you’ll see an overview of the different permission levels available: Manager, Publisher, Collaborator, and Viewer. Below this, you’ll see all the existing administrators for your profile, along with the roles assigned to each. Check out this article for more information about managing administrator accounts and roles. In the Roles Overview section, click on Details within a specific role to show the functionality available for that role. In the dialogue box th
To access all admin account management functions, navigate to the Account Settings menu using the left sidebar. This will open the Administrators account management page. At the top, you can see a quick overview of the different permission levels available for administrators, followed by a list of your organization’s existing administrators. Learn more about each role here.Note that the functions listed below are only available to existing profile administrators with the Manager role designation. If you would like to add, remove, or update roles for yourself or other admins in your organization, contact your profile’s Manager. Adding New Administrators To add a new administrator, click the Add Admin button. Fill in the user’s name and email address, and then select an appropriate role. Confirm by clicking the green Add New Admin button. You’ll see a note indicating that the addition was successful, and the new admin will appear in your list of administrative accounts.Note: Polco profi
Dear community members age [55 and up -- adjust to minimum age of sample], We need your input! The [City / County / State / Area Agency on Aging / State Agency on Aging] is conducting the Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults to better understand the contributions that adults [55+] make to their communities, as well as the needs they have and challenges they experience. Your feedback will help us be sure that our policies and programs align with our residents’ values. You can find the survey here: polco.us/[shorturl]. We encourage all residents age [55] and up to participate! The survey will only take 10-15 minutes to complete, and your feedback will directly influence the decisions and plans of local government, foundations, AAAs, nonprofits serving the aging population, and other organizations serving our community. If you have any questions about the survey, please contact [name] at [phone] or [email]. This survey is conducted in partnership with Polco, an online civic engag
Let your community know that you’re launching The Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults (CASOA)! We’ve created the templates below to help you spread the word about the initial survey launch and prepare residents who may be randomly selected to participate. Sharing the news on social media can help boost participation rates by assuring residents that those mailings are part of a legitimate survey effort from their local leaders, and that you value their input. We recommend posting a different message for the first few weeks that the survey is open, to reach residents as survey invitations are landing in their mailboxes. These suggested posts are optimized for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Nextdoor. Simply replace the bracketed text with the right information for your community or organization, then copy and paste into your social media platform. To help increase your reach, encourage staff, councilmembers, community partners, and local news outlets to “like” and “sha
Let your community know that you’re launching The National Community Survey (The NCS)! We’ve created the templates below to help you spread the word about the initial survey launch and prepare residents who may be randomly selected to participate. Sharing the news on social media can help boost participation rates by assuring residents that those mailings are part of a legitimate survey effort from their local leaders, and that you value their input. We recommend posting a different message for the first few weeks that the survey is open, to reach residents as survey invitations are landing in their mailboxes. These suggested posts are optimized for platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Nextdoor. Simply fill in the blanks to personalize the text for your community or organization, then copy and paste into your social media platform. To help increase your reach, encourage staff, councilmembers, community partners, and local news outlets to “like” and “share” your social media posts
Streamline your processes by having all your resident engagement in one place. To transition subscribers from another engagement platform to Polco, follow these steps: Download a list of subscribers, residents, or registered users from your other engagement platform. You may be able to do this on your own, or you may need to ask the platform to give you a list. Once you have the list of emails, import them into Polco as an email list. Send an email through Polco to these individuals, inviting them to provide input through Polco and subscribe to be notified about future engagement opportunities. Sample email script:“Hello, resident! The XYZ (City, Town, County) of ABC (Insert City/Town/County Name here) is transitioning from [other engagement platform] to Polco for ongoing community engagement. We value your opinions and want to make it easier for you to share input on important issues in our community. Please help us make better, more informed decisions by engaging with us on Po
After the analysis for your project is complete, your project manager will provide a link to your report of results. While we recommend viewing the results online, you can download those results as a PDF report to share with your colleagues and community. Here’s how to do so.Begin by clicking on your closed survey. On the right, you’ll see a box entitled “Actions.” Click “Download PDF” at the bottom of that section. Once the PDF downloads, you can save it to your computer, print, and/or attach to an email as needed.
Learn how GPAL synthesizes a mass of public data so government leaders can connect with their communities, better understand quality of life, and make informed decisions. A cross-industry collaboration, Government Performance Action and Learning (GPAL), has transformed government performance measurement. Polco and academic, government, and private partners amassed a rich database using public information. GPAL synthesizes the public data into easy-to-read indicators on community livability. “[It’s] performance measurement doesn’t include a bunch of spreadsheets and data entry,” said Jonathan Wiersma, Polco’s Vice President of Marketing. In this press conference, Wiersma, Michelle Kobayashi, Polco Vice President of Innovation, and Tobin McKearin, Polco Vice President of Data Science, give attendees a closer look at GPAL and its capabilities. See the full press conference on this exciting launch here!
Curious about the difference between probability-based versus open participation surveys? Here are some details: What's an open participation survey and what are the benefits?An open participation survey is offered to all residents in a community. This method is important because it provides engagement opportunities to all, thus often providing a higher number of completed responses overall and for population sub-groups. It can be less resource intensive and require less time from administration to actionable data. It is programmed as an online survey with invitations sent widely through as many communication channels as possible (social media, email lists, newsletters, media reporting, etc.). Open participation surveys also can benefit from snowball sampling whereby existing survey respondents can recruit their friends and acquaintances and response grows like a rolling snowball. This sampling method can be used to elevate general awareness of the research effort and increase overall
Quick question does Polco have a QR code option for surveys?
Many municipalities used our Community Equity and Inclusion (CEI) survey to gather feedback from their residents. What steps are you planning to take after your initial CEI survey?
Can I determine the order that respondents will see polls in a poll set? For example, say that I created five polls (questions) in a poll set. Will respondents see them in a random order (different for every respondent) or can I set the order so respondents see the questions in a certain order?
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