Survey Development

Survey Link:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2MZ9RYR
Josh Gignac and Jenna Stevens
EDU 749

Topic of Interest: In 1996, the Huron Valley Education Foundation was formed. The foundation is comprised of parents,
community leaders, and educators to provide children in the district with greater opportunities to enhance their
experiences. Specifically, the Foundation uses fundraising as a means to procure funds that are awarded to grant
recipients to be used in their classroom to support teaching and learning. Over the years, the foundation has funded
over 400 grants totaling roughly $250,000 back to classrooms across the district.

Considering recent cuts to school funding, the foundations role in supplementing lost resources has been magnified. In
response to an increased need for financial support, the HVEF has reimagined their marketing techniques and educator
outreach, however, over the years the number of applicants has continued to decrease. Furthermore, with increased
attention to technology implementation, there is an over-arching fear that the foundation will simply become a
technology subsidy committee.

Survey Construction Process: We attempted to create a survey that would provide useful information that could be
used to further refine their marketing, outreach, and ultimately increase grant dissemination.
Demographics For question numbers 1 and 2 served the purpose of identifying the grade level and experiences of those
applying for grants. This demographic data will provide meaningful information that will help the Board to tailor their
outreach.

Participation Data Questions 3-6 were aimed at gathering information to gauge the level of participation and
satisfaction surrounding the process. Specifically, information that could point to whether or not the process was
encouraging or discouraging would help the Board to determine the future direction for applicant outreach and
reengagement.

Allocation of Funds Initially, the HVEFs vision was to support innovative programming, and not curricular
needs that were to be district provided. As financial times have hardened, the line has blurred as to what is
considered the districts responsibility vs. innovation. We thought Questions 7 and 8 will provide the foundation
information that may lead to a rethinking of their vision, adding clarity to what their true purpose is.

Customer Satisfaction Considering the desire to increase participation, the final two questions attempt to
engage the applicants in providing insight as to what would make the grant application process smoother, user
friendly, and enticing.

Validity of Survey - The survey is intended to be taken only once and should be used in real time to inform the future
direction of the Foundation. The survey itself is objective where it needs to be (demographic data and allocation) and
purposely subjective in gauging satisfaction levels of past applicants.

To avoid survey dropout, the survey was kept to ten questions. Although short, the survey is comprehensive in
measuring what it is intended to measure. The survey will be given to all members. Regarding process and satisfaction,
most valid data will come from respondents that have experience with the HVEF grant process. We believe this survey
passes the validity litmus test of consistency of data as determined by the question: If a respondent took the survey
numerous times, would the result remain consistent? To this end, we believe the answer is yes.