Activities survey ideas?

[RumRunner]

I'm the newly-appointed Pack Committee Chair for our Pack, and one of my goals is to make sure that we are delivering the program that our pack families actually WANT to see. (Crazy idea, I know.)

 

Traditionally, this pack "shuts down" for the summertime, as we are closely tied to our CO's school. I have wanted to see activities planned for the summer months, but the veteran leaders have said that most of the time, the families are ready to be done with scouting and would like to take a break. Fair enough, I suppose. Not everyone is as gung-ho as I am.

 

I figure the summertime might be a good time to take stock of where we are as a pack, and how well we are meeting the needs/wants of the families who bring their kiddos to our activities. I'd like to do some sort of online survey... so I'd appreciate any recommendations for a (free) online survey site that folks have used, as well as specific ideas for the types of questions to ask, overall number of questions ("Completed: 2 of 86 pages"), or specific stories (success or failure) related to doing this type of information-gathering.

 

Thanks!

[qwazse]

You may call BS on your veteran leaders. Of course the little gompers don't want to sit in sweltering heat while DL's dole out awards. But fishing, baseball games, parades, an evening at the pool, picnics, etc ... will attract a great number of boys.

 

Anyway, I use Google Spreadsheets to generate quick surveys for venturing stuff. (I also use them for online activity sign-up.) The have a built-in form generation, and the results go straight to the spreadsheet.

 

Just a few questions is all you need. I usually open with a silly one like "How many cookies did your family eat at the Blue and Gold?" Then ask open-ended questions like "What was your favorite pack activity?", "What would you have rather not done?", "What would you like to do as a pack?"

Then I'd finish with "If you'd like to help with this activity, please put your name."

 

You could set up a grid of activities and folks could click how much they like each, but I find that text responses help get people brainstorming.

 

If you get names, be sure to follow-up by calling and thanking them for their feedback.

 

 

[Tampa Turtle]

We have used Survey Monkey. It was OK. People will SAY they will do something but still not come. But you can get some good ideas/conflicts.

 

Most of our Pack was not that interested; cub scouts/school/sports burn't them out they wanted a break or dump them off at camps.

 

We did do some Summer Activities, let those who wanted to come, come, and not worry about who showed up.

[Brewmeister]

A few thoughts--

 

We put on the program for the people who want to come, not the ones who don't want to come. So we do a summer program. Some events are lightly attended but everyone loves them.

 

Rather than doing a web survey do a face to face poll. I have another thread in here recently about getting adults to volunteer. Not only did we get volunteers but we got a dozen solid ideas that were whittled down to about 6 that people could really get behind.

 

Online survey response is spotty--people that are satisfied won't respond even though they will in person. Also be careful what you wish for--opening up to "suggestions" can be brutal (speaking from experience).

 

I too call BS on the other leaders--particularly if you create events that are local, fun, and free, boys will be there. Summer programs keep continuity in your pack and improve boy retention in fall. They are essential IMO.

[dg98adams]

Surevy Monkey is pretty easy to use, if you have a pool of email addresses.

 

When I was CM I did like Turtle suggested since the "Old Guard said the same thing....

 

Put out info on Summer Activities (especially if you have free council activities) , let those who wanted to come, come, and not worry about who showed up.

 

Know what, some did show up.... and had fun.

 

(This message has been edited by dg98adams)

[Tampa Turtle]

I will say that most of the minority who showed up for our Pack summer activities were the most active and became the core group when it was crossover to Scout time. It can be a nice bonding experience.

[DLChris71]

Definitely at least go for the Summertime Pack Award, one event per month. Doesn't have to be fancy or extravagant.

[robb100]

I use a written and printed survey at the last pack meeting. Name is optional. I ask if the pack met their scouting needs, what they liked and didn't like, which camp outs they attended and why they missed the others. I ask for suggestions for next year, where they would like to camp and other activities. I usually get 80 to 90% back.

[blw2]

I think like the OP, but also recognize that even as gung ho as I am as a new cub dad, I'm a little burned out.

Also, I agree with the old guard that families and scouts have team sports and other things in the summer that keep them hopping, so I can kind of see the logic of shutting down for the summer,

but I do wish that my pack would do one or maybe two things just to keep it 'alive'...

 

One of our committee members suggested a survey before our last pack meeting. We brainstrormed, and she put it together. I think the pack meeting was too busy and so proper attention couldn't be given to it. Still, we got some good feedback.

One part was a list of possible trips and pack overnighters, asking for level of interest and ranking. It helped us narrow down our trips for next year..... but it really just took us to where we were planning to go anyway....

I think open end questions might be better, and I like the idea of letting folks fill them out on their own time

[KISMIF_Works]

We flat ran out of time to generate it this year, but did a parent survey each of the past two years before. I found it to be very useful to get the pulse of Pack. I made up a hardcopy version both years, and used Zoomerang the first year for an online version. Zoomerang worked well but shortly after that they placed limitations on the "free" version that were so severe that we couldn't use it the next year.

 

Our survey is set up like a "year-in-review", with questions about the fun and value of the events we had as well as questions about ideas for future events. If you are interested in seeing a copy just PM me.

 

Both times we did the survey at our Blue & Gold Banquet. Most families were in attendance and there was plenty of time for filling out a survey. We had many more hardcopy responses than online responses (something like 3 to 1).

 

As far as summer events go...they are generally the less-attended events for us, but we still get a decent turnout and have a great time. I find it works well for us if we plan an event that is simple to coordinate and doesn't require a large attendance in order to work budget-wise. For example, we have an Ice Cream Social in August at a local park. The Pack provides ice cream and ice water, and families bring a topping. We don't worry too much about squeezing advancements out of it. The scouts are just happy to get together and play. We played a family game of kickball last year, and everyone seemed to enjoy that.

 

Another simple event is a family hike at a nearby trail, maybe followed by a family picnic. I suggest trying one or two simple events like that this summer if you are getting resistance from other leaders, as a way of feeling out the real interest in your Pack for summer events.