Initially, the response rate to my survey was slow. It made me worry about being able to get enough data for the survey to be useful.
After brainstorming other avenues to reach people, I ended up reaching out to several different organizations I could send my survey out through.
First, I ended up working with Kansas Farm Bureau. The organization, which is a non-profit advocacy entity, has a presence in all 105 Kansas counties and operates under the mission “to strengthen agriculture and the lives of Kansans through advocacy, education and service,” according to the organization’s website. Every Tuesday and Friday the organization sends an electronic newsletter to 13,000 of its members. A brief recruitment message was included in each issue of the newsletter between Dec. 16, 2022, and Jan. 6, 2023. To incentivize participation, respondents had the opportunity to enter a drawing for one of two $50 Amazon gift cards if they completed the survey by Jan. 15, 2023.
Similarly, a recruitment message also was created to be published in the email newsletter of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, which is a non-profit organization whose mission “is to preserve and sustain rural culture by educating Kansans about Kansas and networking and supporting rural communities,” according to its website. The newsletter, called “We Kan! Tidbits,” goes to 2,400 subscribers. As was the case with the Farm Bureau population, respondents will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for one of two $50 Amazon gift cards if they completed the survey by Jan. 31, 2023.
Additionally, as another way to recruit respondents, the survey was distributed to students, faculty, and staff at both Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, and Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.
Tapping into this population allowed me to make contact with a wide variety of individuals, and their association with an educational institution means they likely are from various parts of Kansas, not from a single area.
In the case of Sterling College, the Vice President for Academic Affairs agreed to email the recruitment message to all faculty, staff, and students, which equates to 700 individuals. To incentivize participation, respondents will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for one of two $50 Amazon gift cards if they completed the survey by Feb. 17, 2023.
In terms of Kansas State University, the recruitment message was submitted for publication in the “K-State Today” email newsletter on two separate occasions, going to all student, faculty, and staff email addresses. Each time the newsletter is published, 6,500 faculty and staff email addresses receive it, and approximately 18,900 student email addresses receive it. To incentivize participation in this recruitment effort as well, respondents will have the opportunity to enter a drawing for one of two $50 Amazon gift cards if they completed the survey by March 12, 2023.
Finally, I’m also planning to write a column for a local newspaper that explains the project and encourages readers to take the survey, and I am going to post a plea on my social media profiles.
I hope these efforts significantly increase the number of people who complete the survey. I desperately need respondents.