In the world of associations, member engagement is crucial. But when members receive survey invitations, they often skip the survey, thinking that their feedback won't actually change anything. We've all heard it described as "survey fatigue." I'd like to introduce a new term to the discussion: "inaction fatigue" — the disillusionment arising when feedback doesn't translate into tangible action.
Associations thrive on member engagement and trust, and sending a membership survey is one of the most frequently used ways to gather data from an entire membership. However, when organizations distribute surveys covering various topics, and the collected data remains unused, it signals to members that their input is not valued, leading to disengagement.
In the past, many associations have treated surveys like report cards. An assessment of performance, not a call to action. Over time, as inboxes become filled with hundreds of emails a day, the request for feedback becomes easier to ignore. As such, if you want to improve survey response, you need to get out of the report-card mindset and treat the survey as a call to change.
Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE’s Center for Association Leadership.