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Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in The Community Assessment Survey for Older Adults (The CASOA)

CASOA Outreach Kit and CalendarTemplate

To get the most accurate results from your nonprobability-based survey efforts, share your survey as widely as possible. Below is our suggested calendar for outreach, assuming a survey is active for four weeks. Adjust as needed to accommodate your timeline, available resources, communication channels, and community’s needs.Save time with our outreach templates (see attached), which are designed for a wide variety of platforms and delivery modes!  Before Survey LaunchLet your community know about the upcoming survey! Share a quick link to your Polco profile to encourage residents to join Polco in advance, so you can easily notify subscribers when the survey goes live.Publish a blog post or e-newsletter announcement Share social media posts Email existing community listsAfter Survey LaunchWhile the survey is active, provide frequent reminders across multiple platforms (both digital and physical!) to meet residents where they are. Try out different messaging and call-to-actions to see wha

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Taxpayer Receipts User GuideTutorial

After you’ve logged in, click on the "Taxpayer Receipt" button on the left and then "Create Taxpayer Receipt" on the right.Give your new Taxpayer Receipt a name:Adding ContentYou will be adding Revenue, Spending, and General Settings content to your Taxpayer Receipt. RevenueFrom the Revenue tab, choose the calculations you wish to include for your taxpayer receipt. If you do not wish to include a calculation, ensure that it is unchecked.Property TaxQuestion Text: You can specify what type of value you want to use to estimate property taxes. The most common is assessed value because it is the most precise but some users have used actual or market value.Multiplier Value: For example, if you are using assessed value, simply enter the mill as a decimal (e.g. for a mill levy of 80.7860 enter .00807650). If you are using market or actual value, enter whatever value is required to estimate property tax. In most cases, this will be the product of the assessment rate and the mill levy. Unless y

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Using Balancing Act as a Teaching ToolBest Practices

Balancing Act is an excellent tool for teachers to provide students an interactive way to learn about government and civics by letting them experience what it is like to build a budget. Hundreds of thousands of students have used Balancing Act simulations, both online and in person, synchronously and asynchronously. Here are a two features that might be useful in your teaching: Meeting Mode: Meeting Mode will allow you to create a link to distribute to students, who can then go through the simulation either alone or in a group. Their aggregated responses will be visible in real-time on a facilitator screen. This feature is great for reviewing results and discussing them as a group.  Save and Share Progress: If a student wants to continue working on their simulation beyond the class period, they can save their progress with a unique URL. This feature can also be used for group projects, allowing one student to share their budget choices with others who can then add new input.  Note: The

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Simulation Quick Start GuideTutorial

Once you’ve logged in to your account, click on “Simulate” in the left sidebar and then "Create Simulation" on the right. In the modal that appears, give your simulation a name, choose the language, and select the desired simulation mode (Budget or Housing). You can opt to duplicate an existing simulation, use a template, or start from scratch. Once you have created the simulation, you will see a screen with tabs for "Revenue" and "Spending." Click one of these and follow the next instructions to either upload your data individually or in bulk using a .CSV template.  Entering DataThe most common way to get your initial data into a simulation is by importing a .CSV file that you create from your budgeting software or spreadsheet. In almost every case, you will have much more data at a finer level of detail than what you ultimately present on the simulation, so you will have to roll data up into the simulation’s category/subcategory structure.For an in-depth walkthrough on adding content

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Using Meeting Mode for Remote and/or In-Person FacilitationTutorial

The “Meeting Mode” feature was designed for using a simulation at an in-person or remote/online meeting. This mode allows the simulation to be a facilitation tool, creating the opportunity for informed, two-way communication with constituents. The meeting facilitator can view the budget preferences of the group in real-time, and then use that information to frame the conversation. Note: Meeting Mode can only be used on an ACTIVATED simulation. It is optimized for computers, phones, and tablets.Setting Up Meeting ModeTo activate meeting mode, go into Edit mode on an active simulation, then select the Meeting tab. Click the “Create a meeting” button. Once you give your meeting a name, you’ll see fields to add additional meeting information:Location (optional) Description (optional) Use entire budget?Unchecking the “Use entire budget” checkbox will then display additional fields, where you can select which specific categories to review or exclude during the meeting.Once you save those det

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Using Balancing Act in Budget CuttingBest Practices

Note: Some features in this article are only available in full accounts. During difficult economic times, it becomes necessary for many organizations to cut spending. Balancing Act can help with this unfortunate task by presenting cut options, with whatever level of detail you want, so that stakeholders can consider all the options, see their cost impact, and provide informed input to decision makers.These simulations can either be complex, with layers of detail and information, or extremely simple, letting users just answer "yes" or "no" to an item. You can also let users choose their preferred revenue scenario.Click here to explore the above example of a quick, internal-facing budget-cut simulation for a department. If you find yourself in the position of needing to create a budget-cut simulation, we recommend using our budget simulation tool with the following settings:Use the scenario question creation feature to quickly create yes/no scenario questions. By default, the dollar valu

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Select Multiple Options in Scenario QuestionsTutorial

Note: This article only applies to projects using scenario questions. If you are creating a scenario question, you have the option to allow users to select multiple response options. Some examples of when this feature can be useful include:Capital budgets Planning processes Economic development Deciding which features to include in a building project budget (e.g., indoor track, splash pad, yoga studio, etc.)Within the scenario question control panel, you will see a check box for “Allow users to select multiple options?”. Enabling this checkbox will allow users to select multiple options for that particular scenario question.You can also identify which options (if any) should be selected by default, using the “Selected by default” checkboxes on each option card.  Here is a sample of what the user would see with multiple selections enabled:  

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Dedicated FundsTutorial

Dedicated funds custom questions allow you to specify an amount to be allocated from a particular revenue subcategory into specific spending subcategories. You may configure multiple options.Make sure your spending subcategories are set up prior to creating a dedicated funds question! To begin, open up your simulation project and click on the “Revenue” tab. This will display all of your existing revenue categories and subcategories. Next, click the pencil icon next to whichever sub-category you'd like to add a dedicated funds questions to.  After selecting "Convert to Dedicated Funds Question", a modal will appear. This is where you will input the following details:Scenario Name: a private name for this question that is not shown to the public Scenario Question: the question or description (if only 1 option) shown to the public Info Bubble Text: information pertaining to the question More Details: Additional information pertaining to the question with the ability to add links, images,

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Impacts in SimulationsTutorial

Budget simulations help demonstrate the effect line-item choices have on the bottom line. But the consequences of budget decisions don't stop at the finance office. Each item can reflect trade-offs between financial resources and other important priorities like equity, sustainability, and long-term financial outlook. Adding an impact to a budget simulation helps you show how changes to some budget items affect both this year's bottom line and that additional priority.To add one or more impacts to your simulation, follow the steps below: While editing a simulation, navigate to the Impacts tab. If you don't see it, contact us to get it enabled. Then click the "Create Impact" button. Fill out the fields in the pop-up modal and click "Done".Next to the impact you just created, click the gear icon. Enter multipliers for any budget subcategories that should affect the impact. The subcategory's contribution to the impact total during the simulation will be the subcategory's current dollar amo

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Team Polco
14 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Using the Guided Tour FeatureTutorial

The Guided Tour feature allows you to select the most important simulation items for residents to interact with first, before proceeding to the full simulation. This is excellent for highlighting specific scenario questions, bond requests, or any other prominent items. From the "Guided Tour" tab, you'll be able to see the categories and sub-categories that you've already added to your simulation.Now it's time to select items! Click the checkbox next to any sub-category you’d like to highlight in the Guided Tour. You can select as many items as you like. You can also choose whether or not to include the "More Info" and "More Details" text for each subcategory using the initial checkbox (located above all the individual items).If you’d like to adjust the order in which selected items appear to the user within the Guided Tour, simply drag and drop each category to its desired arrangement.  End users will see each of those items highlighted individually, prior to seeing the entire simulati

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Team Polco
15 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in FAQ's

Balancing Act FAQsF.A.Q.

What is Balancing Act?The Balancing Act tool allows you to share your priorities and adjust budgets for various departments and programs, so we can align our finite resources with the services that matter most to you. This helps all residents add their voices to the decision-making process, with direct insight into the tradeoffs that must be made considering the [City/County/Organization]’s revenues and expenses – in the same way that the [City/County/Organization] has to balance the budget each year before budget adoption.  Why did [City/County/Organization Name] add this budget simulation tool?We have prioritized finding new and innovative ways to include more people in the budgeting process, especially those who are not able to attend the local budget hearings. This tool allows residents to participate in the traditional budget process at their own pace, on their own schedule. I’ve submitted my recommendations through the tool. What happens next?[Customize based on your plans for ne

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Team Polco
15 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Editing a Simulation After ActivationTutorial

Caution! Editing a project after activation could overwrite data. Consider making a duplicate of your simulation before attempting to edit a live simulation. On occasion, you may need to edit a simulation after activation. While it can certainly be done, we recommend taking care to avoid accidentally overwriting information in the process. Read on for an explanation of how to edit a live simulation, both manually and via CSV re-import, and considerations for each. Editing ManuallyWithin the Simulations section on the left-hand sidebar, select the active project and click on the edit icon. This will open the simulation for editing. This will make immediate changes to the live simulation, which your users will see once they refresh the page. Alternatively, you can duplicate an existing simulation to be safe! Simply click the “Create Simulation” button, assign the new simulation a name, choose “Duplicate Simulation”, and select the appropriate project to duplicate. ConsiderationsEditing t

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Team Polco
15 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Adding a Suggestion Box (Simulate)Tutorial

From the "Spending" tab of a simulation, click on the "Add Category" button. Give the category a name, such as "Suggestion" or "Idea". Save this new category by clicking the green checkmark next to the name.Next, hover your cursor over the category, and click the grey chat icon that reads, "Add a Suggestion Box". You have now successfully created a suggestion box for your simulation! Just like any other subcategory item, you can add more info and/or more details by clicking the + icon in the corresponding column. Suggestion boxes also have a unique amount setting, which you can access by clicking the three-dot menu in the "Customize" column. Three different options will appear:Do not include an amount field (default and most popular selection) Include an amount field, but do not apply it to the balance Include an amount field and apply it to the balanceIf you select either option to include an amount field, you can also optionally add a ceiling that the user will not be able to exceed.

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Team Polco
15 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Duplicating Subcategories (Simulate)Tutorial

In some instances, you may want to use a similar question format for multiple subcategories in a simulation. For example, the two scenario questions pictured below use the same structure: Rather than recreate the second question and its answer options manually, you can duplicate the entire question and then edit the content as needed. Hover your cursor over the line item you’d like to duplicate, and click the “duplicate subcategory” icon that appears (see screenshot below). If you change your mind, simply select the trash can icon next to it. 

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Team Polco
16 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Previewing and Activating a PrioritizationTutorial

At any time during the set-up process, you can use the “Preview” button to view your project from a user’s perspective. This allows you to check the user experience and look for any final tweaks or typos.When you’re ready to publish your prioritization, click “Activate”. This will make the prioritization live, but you'll still have the ability to make edits afterward. The prioritization’s URL for sharing can be found underneath your project name. For more info about customizing and sharing the URL, check out this article.  

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Team Polco
16 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Customizing a URL (Prioritize/Simulate)Tutorial

To locate the URL for any Prioritization or Simulation project, first find the project and click “Edit”. You’ll see the URL underneath the project’s name.Your simulation's URL is composed of two parts: the base (the initial part of the address, starting with https://) and the slug (the final part of the address, after the .com/). The base is permanent and stays the same for projects across your entire account. The slug is unique to each project and is assigned automatically based on the title.While the base cannot be changed, the slug can be edited easily by clicking anywhere within that text. You cannot use spaces or special characters, and we recommend keeping the URLs simple and clear for end users.If you anticipate having more than one active project in your account at any given time, you should share the entire project-specific URL (base + slug) with users. However, if you only plan to have one active simulation at a time, you may wish to only share the base, which will always def

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Team Polco
16 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Building a PrioritizationTutorial

Once you’re logged in, click on the "Prioritize" button on the left sidebar, and then "Create Prioritization" on the right.    In the window that appears, give your new prioritization a name, and choose whether you’d like to duplicate an existing prioritization or start from scratch. Adding ContentFirst, enter the available funds for this prioritization. The available funds number can be either a cap (as in a budget, where selected items cannot exceed the listed amount) or a goal (where selections must meet or exceed that amount). Next, you can add individual items manually or in bulk by importing a CSV file. You can also add a suggestion box to allow users to write in their own suggestions/ideas.All completed items will populate on your Prioritize dashboard. Rearrange the order of items if needed by dragging and dropping any item box. Customizing Exit/Entry ScreensFrom the "Exit/Entry" tab, you'll be able to customize what users see when they first open the prioritization, and also wh

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Team Polco
16 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Exit and Entry QuestionsTutorial

In both Prioritize and Simulate, you can use exit and entry questions to gather additional information from participants. These questions may be customized to best reflect your organization, audience, and data needs.Watch this short video or read on for more information about using exit/entry questions. About Entry and Exit QuestionsEntry questions pop up in an introductory modal when users first visit the site. Conversely, exit questions are shown in a final modal after users submit their response.Together, these questions provide options for you to:Add branding, such as your logo Insert videos, including messages from senior leaders or walkthroughs of the simulation Give users additional context or guidance through text, hyperlinks, or videos (e.g., messages from senior leaders, project explainer videos, simulation walk-throughs, etc.) Ask survey questions (e.g., to gauge users’ level of familiarity with an issue or project, preconceptions/assumptions about a topic, etc.) Learn where

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Team Polco
17 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Text Customizations in Prioritize or SimulateTutorial

Editing text strings in your simulation or prioritization allows you to customize boilerplate text, making your project more suited to your specific needs or audience. First, open up your Simulate or Prioritize project and navigate to the Settings tab. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to the Text Customizations heading, and click the "Add Custom Text" button.  In the modal window that appears, you can either type to search for specific text or click for a drop-down menu. Each text string in the menu includes the actual text shown to end users (e.g., "Welcome to Balancing Act!"), followed by a brief description of where this text appears (e.g., "Entry Modal Title"). Select the text string you want to change and type in your preferred custom text. Click "Done" to apply changes. All text string updates will appear under the Text Customizations heading.Feel free to preview and test out your prioritization or simulation to ensure that your text customizations work well with the other s

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Team Polco
17 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Understanding Prioritize SettingsTutorial

The Settings tab of your Prioritization has a number of features and functionalities to consider. Take a look at this video walkthrough or the written guide below for more information about each option.  General SettingsYou’ll first select your preferred language for the prioritization. Next, the following checkboxes can be toggled on or off to indicate 1) whether users can add comments on individual items, and 2) if item order should be randomized for viewers. The Default View Mode dropdown allows you to further customize the user experience, deciding if the items should display in small tiles, large tiles, or a list. PresetsIn this section, you can choose a prioritization mode (e.g., budget, housing, climate, etc.), which will automatically adjust other settings (such as balance bar behavior and units) accordingly.  Balance Bar BehaviorThe balance bar behavior is an important setting, essentially determining the core functionality of your Prioritize project. In order for a user to su

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Team Polco
17 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Adding a Suggestion Box (Prioritize)Tutorial

Aside from the standard items you’ll add into your Prioritization, you can also include a suggestion box, which allows users to submit their own suggestions and ideas.This quick video (and the written tutorial below) will walk you through the short steps of adding a suggestion box.  To add a suggestion box, first navigate to your Prioritize project. From the "Item" tab, click on the drop-down arrow next to the "Add An Item" button. In the modal that appears, you can change the item’s name, add details, assign a category, and add an image (a default image will be used if a custom image is not uploaded/selected). Additionally, you’ll need to choose one of three different options for the “Amount Field”, which will determine how the suggestion box functions for users: Do not include an amount field (default and most popular selection) Include an amount field, but do not apply it to the balance Include an amount field and apply it to the balanceIf you select either option to include an amou

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Team Polco
18 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Adding Content Manually (Prioritize)Tutorial

When you’re building a prioritization, items can be added individually or via bulk CSV import. View our quick video tutorial about adding items manually, or read on for step-by-step instructions.To add an item manually, first click “Add an Item” within your existing Prioritize project.  A window will appear with several information fields. The "Name” and “Cost" are technically the only fields required, but to make your Prioritization more informative and visually inviting, we recommend also adding details and an image. When you click the "Details" tab on the left, you’ll have the opportunity to assign a category (either select an already-existing category or add a new one). You can also optionally fill in the fields for “Details” (brief explanation of the item and/or what it includes) and “More Details” (additional in-depth background or context with hyperlinks, embedded media, and special formatting if desired). Finally, click the “Image” tab and choose whether to upload your own imag

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Team Polco
23 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

Adding Content via CSV Import (Prioritize)Tutorial

Balancing Act’s CSV import functionality allows you to quickly add content in bulk to your Prioritization project.Within the “Items” tab in Prioritize, select "Import".   We recommend downloading the CSV Spending Template (see screenshot below), as this will provide some guidance on the information you can include in your prioritization. Important note: The first row of headings in your CSV must exactly match the heading row in the template!Your CSV should have the following columns:Category: The parent category each item belongs to Subcategory: The item’s name  Amount: The cost or expense associated with that item (plain text only—no commas or symbols!) More info (optional): Additional brief information about the item More details (optional): More detailed information about the purpose, need, or logistics of the item. This field can include images/embedded media, hyperlinks, and special character formatting; however, any images or other media cannot be uploaded during the CSV import p

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Team Polco
24 days ago
Team Polco
Team PolcoCommunity Manager
published in Balancing Act

CSV Import Fields (Prioritize/Simulate)F.A.Q.

The CSV import feature lets you upload bulk content quickly for a simulation or prioritization project, centering on 5 basic types of data:Category: The parent category each item belongs to Subcategory: The item’s name  Amount: The cost or expense associated with that item (plain text only—no commas or symbols!) More info (optional): Additional brief information about the item More details (optional): More detailed information about the purpose, need, or logistics of the item. This field can include images/embedded media, hyperlinks, and special character formatting; however, any images or other media cannot be uploaded during the CSV import process and will need to be manually added after the import is complete.  As you’re filling out the CSV for upload, it can be difficult to know what to include for each field. To help visualize where each CSV field will appear in your final project, take a look at the following illustrations of the end users’ view. PrioritizeCategories can be used

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Team Polco
24 days ago
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