10 questions to ask in your membership survey

Community engagement is one of the most important aspects of any membership-based organization. But you can’t depend on event attendance and enrollment numbers to paint a full picture of your community.

Gauging member satisfaction by soliciting feedback is vital to maintaining current numbers and increasing enrollment. To do this, you need effective member surveys and a platform like Jotform to track responses. But what should you ask to make sure you get all the information you need?

The 10 best membership survey questions

You should always have a goal for every survey. Do you want to gauge interest in current programming? Are you trying to discover new opportunities for your organization? Or are you asking for feedback about a specific event?

Regardless of your goal, here are 10 membership survey questions you can adapt for your purposes.

1. How long have you been a member?

This question qualifies how members answer all other questions. Members who have been part of the organization for many years will be more aware of its ups and downs, influencing their benchmark for quality.

This question also helps you better categorize responses. For example, if you’re analyzing feedback only from new members, you can exclude responses from those who have been members for more than one year.

2. How did you hear about the organization?

Membership survey questions about how members joined are great for analyzing your marketing. For example, if the majority of respondents say they heard about your organization from Facebook, this indicates that social media is your best source of leads. This could lead to addressing the shortcomings of other marketing channels or cutting them altogether to focus on Facebook.

3. How often do you attend events or meetings?

Asking this question is one of the best ways to assess the success of your offerings. Responses will also guide the ideal cadence of events and programs. Low attendance by many respondents could indicate events aren’t high quality or simply aren’t the driving force behind memberships.

Carefully look at your offerings to observe any patterns that might indicate low or high attendance. Are there too many small events that drive members to save their time and energy for one major party? Are meetings unproductive or happening too frequently? Consider conducting additional surveys if you can’t find a pattern.

4. What types of events or offerings would you like more of?

Regardless of current attendance or engagement, it’s always great to clearly understand what members want more of. This can provide valuable insight that informs the direction leaders should take the organization, especially when it comes to planning the next quarter or year.

If respondents overwhelmingly support the creation of a particular event, what better way to show dedication to your community than by announcing that the event is a result of their feedback?

5. What is your favorite event or offering?

This type of question gets to the heart of what’s working. Do your members benefit most from an annual gala that brings the community together or from programs such as educational seminars? The answers to these membership survey questions can help you determine what to keep during planning or a restructuring.

6. What is your least favorite event or offering?

Similarly, if you’re looking to save money or lighten the organizational schedule, this question can help you decide what to cut. For example, you may be pouring a considerable amount of effort into securing member discounts at local businesses. But if no one uses them, your effort could go to more worthy endeavors, such as creating more seminars.

7. Would you maintain membership at a different price or offering tier?

Building a membership base depends on engagement, benefits, and, of course, cost. Sometimes, organizations find their offerings are no longer sustainable without increasing renewal costs.

Others may be willing to lower prices to increase membership but at the expense of a popular benefit. Asking members about their preferences helps an organization’s leadership estimate potential revenue impact before committing to a membership price change.

8. How would you prefer to hear from us?

This question finds the most effective outreach channels. If you purchased an SMS platform to keep in contact with your members, but the survey reveals the majority prefer email or social media, you can safely invest in another communication tool.

If possible, use this question as an opportunity for members to customize how your organization contacts them, rather than simply providing feedback about what they prefer.

9. How likely are you to renew your membership?

This question gets at the heart of respondent satisfaction. Even if they’ve answered negatively about the value of the organization and its offerings, if they’re going to renew the membership, then they still feel they’re getting value from the organization.

On the other hand, if they answer that they’re unlikely to renew their membership, this response can alert a membership manager to try to improve the relationship.

10. Would you recommend our organization to someone you know?

This question is another great indicator of satisfaction, as references speak to the benefits of membership. Positive answers also provide an opportunity for the marketing department to offer incentives for referrals, such as free gifts or a discount on membership renewal.

Better member engagement with Jotform

You shouldn’t risk squandering your membership surveys with subpar survey methods. You need a platform that offers analysis tools and is easy for everyone to use. Enter Jotform, one of the most robust online form creators, which allows you to create surveys from scratch or fully customize form templates to any goal, industry, or aesthetic.

Best of all, your forms automatically connect to Jotform Tables, creating a database that gives you granular insights into your membership. Jotform also offers several table templates to get you started. You can even integrate responses with your customer relationship management database, helping inform how your marketing and sales team communicates with members.

Your members deserve the utmost attention from your organization’s management, and you deserve the capabilities and ease of use of Jotform.