TELL YOUR AUDIENCE

What the survey is about
A clear understanding of the surveys purpose will make respondents more likely to complete the survey.

Why the survey is being conducted
State what it is you would like to achieve from the survey, and what the results will impact upon - local policy, priorities, processes etc.

Who you are
Provide a small description of your organisation and include a web link to your organisations website, newsletter, etc.

How you will use the data
Always tell your respondents how the data you collect is going to be used, including information such as purpose, benefits and expected outcomes. Remember that if you do collect personal information that you intend to use at a later date within your own organisation, or share with others you must by law ask respondees to "opt-in" to this service. You may also need to consult the Data Protection Act

How long the survey will take
At the beginning of the survey, tell the respondents roughly how long the survey will take to complete. If you wish you can incorporate a progress bar to indicate their progress throughout.

What Information they might need
If you are asking for detailed information, you may wish to point out to respondees what they will need to have at hand to complete the survey. Or alternatively you may wish to give them the opportunity of saving their partially completed survey and resuming at a later date.

Terms & Conditions
You can incorporate a set of terms and conditions relating to the participation in the survey. Emphasise confidentiality especially when you require personal information - people are often reluctant to complete a survey if they don't have a vision of where or for what purpose their personal information is going to be used. You may wish to point out that their personal information will only be presented in a statistical format, or that it will be discarded on completion of the survey.