Boost Survey Completion Rates

Boosting Completion Rates

Strong completion rates rarely happen by accident.

Programs that consistently see high participation tend to do two things well:

1. They clearly explain why survey participation matters.

2. They proactively support reporters throughout the process.

The recommendations below can help improve engagement before, during, and after each launch.

Convey Why Your Organization Captures Data

Organizations that clearly communicate the purpose and value of the data captured tend to have significantly higher completion rates.

Help reporters understand:

• How their feedback is used
• How survey responses support decision-making and program improvement
• How their participation benefits both the organization and the people it serves

When people understand the “why” — and believe their input is actually reviewed and used — participation becomes significantly more consistent.

Use Automated Reminder, Thank You, & Follow-Up Messages

The Impact Suite includes automated, customizable messages including:

• Reminder messages
• Thank you messages
• Follow-up/check-in messages

These messages can help reduce manual follow-up while keeping reporters engaged throughout the reporting process.

Reminder Messages

Reminder emails and text messages help reporters stay on track before surveys close.

Best practices:

• Keep reminders short and clear
• Reinforce deadlines without sounding punitive
• Use a human, conversational tone whenever possible

Thank You Messages

Thank you messages are sent after someone completes a survey.

These messages can:

• Reinforce that responses are valued
• Increase long-term engagement
• Help reporters feel their time and input matter

Even a short acknowledgment can improve future participation rates.

Follow-Up / Check-In Messages

Follow-up messages allow you to automatically check in with reporters who did not complete their survey.

Instead of discovering low participation after a few months of surveys, these messages create a proactive opportunity to:

• Understand what prevented completion
• Identify confusion or technical issues early
• Re-engage reporters before participation patterns decline further

The most effective follow-up messages:

• Avoid guilt or pressure
• Acknowledge that people are busy
• Invite honest feedback in a low-pressure way

Personally Reach Out to Individuals Who Consistently Miss Surveys

Automated messages are helpful, but should not fully replace personal outreach.

If certain individuals repeatedly do not complete surveys:

• Call or email them directly
• Confirm they understand the survey’s purpose
• Ask whether there are barriers preventing participation

In many cases, a short human conversation resolves confusion quickly and creates long-term engagement.

Modify, Refine, and Personalize

Modify for the Moment

We consistently find that people are more likely to complete surveys when questions evolve with the season or context of service, and are refined over time to stay relevant.

Even small updates, uch as adding or adjusting a single question, can improve engagement.

One effective approach is to add a question based on recent trends or challenges identified in prior responses.

How are you, tho?

You can also include reflective or well-being questions such as:

• How are you feeling about your experience in our program this year?
• What do you need from program staff to feel better supported?
• How would you improve our program?
• How are you doing overall?

Our evaluation data consistently show that people value questions about their experience and well-being just as much as performance-related questions.

Refine Over Time

Completion rates often drop when surveys feel longer or more complex than necessary.

Regularly review your surveys and ask:

• Are there questions we no longer need?
• Are we asking for duplicate information?
• Are required questions creating unnecessary friction?
• Are surveys being sent at the right time?

Small reductions in friction can lead to meaningful improvements in participation.

Encourage Use of the “Did Not Participate” Button

One common cause of inaccurate completion rates is when reporters who did not work or serve during a reporting period simply skip the survey instead of selecting “Did Not Participate.”

Remind reporters that if they did not participate during a given period, they should still:

• Log into the survey
• Select the “Did Not Participate” option

This helps:

• Improve the accuracy of completion data
• Reduce confusion around missing submissions
• Prevent unnecessary follow-up outreach

Make Survey Responses Visible in Real Time

People are more likely to continue participating when they see their input being used.

Whenever possible:

• Share recent survey trends in meetings
• Highlight changes made based on feedback
• Acknowledge emerging challenges early

Even simple reinforcement helps build trust in the process.

Keep Launches Predictable

Participation tends to improve when survey schedules become part of a routine.

Whenever possible:

• Launch surveys on consistent days
• Keep due dates predictable
• Avoid changing schedules frequently
• Clearly communicate expectations ahead of time

When reporters know when surveys are coming, participation becomes more habitual and less disruptive.

Use Introductory Text to Set Context

Before reporters begin a survey, use introductory text to:

• Explain specific instructions relevant to the survey
• Clarify time frames reported on
• Highlight how data will be used
• Reinforce deadlines or expectations

A small amount of context at the beginning of a survey can meaningfully improve completion rates.

Use a Phone!

Call individuals who have not completed surveys regularly and ask them to share the specific reasons they have not done so.

Learn who you need to call by using your Completion Info Viewer.

Call the people who do complete surveys regularly to thank them and to also learn the reasons they do complete surveys.  

You may find that distinct differences exist between the people who do complete surveys and those that do not by having this type of open conversation.

Learn who you need to call by using your Completion Info Viewer.

Here are some of the things you can do with it:

Take advantage of the Program News box on your America Learns Impact Suite home page.  

• Post data trends or anomalies from recent survey data.
• Thank specific people for always completing surveys.
• List the survey completion rates of the top completers over a given time period (e.g., month, semester, season).

Share some of the above data in any newsletters that go out to your people

Incorporate survey data into training and ongoing support workshops.

For example, you can use some of the goals and challenges people have described in their surveys as prompts for role playing activities.

Another example: If 80% of your people are logging behavior challenges regularly, it’s a good idea to focus a support workshop on the specific issues being reported to communicate that you are reading and using the data.

Celebrate contributions that your people make to your program via the Impact Suite at a variety of in-person or web-based events. 

Celebrate a person of the week/month/quarter at meetings or events.  You can also highlight individuals in your Program News box (just be conscious to update the box often as outdated news communicates you are not using the Impact Suite).  

One program we serve gives each tutor a binder at the beginning of the year for that program's “strategies of the month.”  During monthly meetings, Admins pass out copies of the strategies of the month for the binders.  That same program also awards a trophy to the individual who submitted the top strategy of each month.  We’re not encouraging you to go out and buy trophies, but the process of showing that you value the time and effort people are putting into sharing their experiences and success via the Impact Suite is something you may want to think about if you are not already doing it.

Purchasing Awards

One tutoring program used to award its tutors with 100% completion rates each quarter with a $50 gift certificate to purchase tutoring supplies.