{"id":6076,"date":"2016-07-19T10:00:37","date_gmt":"2016-07-19T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/womensministrytoolbox.com\/?p=6076"},"modified":"2017-02-18T18:30:13","modified_gmt":"2017-02-18T23:30:13","slug":"womens-ministry-surveys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/womensministrytoolbox.com\/womens-ministry-surveys\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Ministry Surveys: Online vs. Printed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Women's<\/a><\/p>\n

A few weeks ago our women’s ministry team decided to distribute a survey to assess what our women were looking for from our team in the next year.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve also heard a lot of women mention that they miss our evening Bible study offering. What better way to find out how great the interest really is than to ask!<\/p>\n

Our team was divided about whether or not a printed version of our women’s ministry survey was necessary. Our compromise was to offer both.<\/h4>\n

Perhaps your team has been faced with a similar dilemma.<\/p>\n

Is it necessary, as it was 10 years ago, to offer a printed version of a survey?<\/em><\/p>\n

What are the benefits of offering an online survey vs. a printed survey?<\/em><\/p>\n

Is one better than the other<\/em>?<\/p>\n

This post walks through what we discovered during this process.<\/h4>\n

We did our best to ensure that both versions received ample publicity.<\/p>\n

How we distributed the printed version:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Sunday bulletin \u2013 two Sundays<\/li>\n
  2. Connect Center desk<\/li>\n
  3. Announcements in SS announcements and Sunday bulletin<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How we distributed the online version:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Emailed link and request to all women in church<\/li>\n
    2. Sent reminder email before close of survey<\/li>\n
    3. Shared link via Women\u2019s Ministry Facebook Page<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"Examining<\/a><\/h4>\n

      As the creator of the survey I have first-hand experience of the pro\u2019s and con\u2019s of each version.<\/h4>\n

      Let\u2019s look first at the pro\u2019s.<\/p>\n

      Pro\u2019s of the Printed Version:<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Internet not necessary<\/li>\n
      2. Convenient (in Bulletin)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Pro\u2019s of the Online Version:<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Accessible anytime<\/li>\n
        2. Results immediately calculated<\/li>\n
        3. Required answers (we chose to utilize this option)<\/li>\n
        4. More detailed answers were received<\/li>\n
        5. Real-time results \u2013 can view responses as they are entered<\/li>\n
        6. Easy to set up and send out – I used Google Forms<\/li>\n
        7. Results were combined into nifty grafts and also available as a spreadsheet<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          You can probably already see where this is headed!<\/em><\/p>\n

          Were the \u201ccon\u2019s\u201d as out of balance? Yes, they were!<\/p>\n

          Con\u2019s of the Printed Version:<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. Women did not answer all of the questions<\/li>\n
          2. Open-ended question responses were brief in comparison<\/li>\n
          3. Skewed overall results by not answering every question<\/li>\n
          4. Disruptive to worship time in service<\/li>\n
          5. Time consuming collection – Had to be collected and then entered in by hand<\/li>\n
          6. Time consuming to create and format survey<\/li>\n
          7. Time consuming to distribute thru various channels at church<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Con\u2019s of the Online Version:<\/strong><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Needed reminders to submit<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              You may have noticed I did not list internet access as a \u201ccon\u201d. Ten years ago this would have been an issue, but internet access is rarely an issue anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n

              So how many of each survey did we receive?<\/h4>\n

              We had a total of 50 surveys submitted, which for a church our size is fantastic! (We average around 200 in attendance, divided between two services on Sunday.)<\/p>\n

              Of the 50 \u2013 12 were printed surveys and 38 were online surveys.<\/strong><\/p>\n

              If our goal is good feedback on the surveys, then the online surveys were the clear winner. As noted above:<\/p>\n