As the new PTO president I sent an email yesterday to the PTO Board making a recommendation that every event/item/function we do we start collecting feedback/survey data on. At this point we only do it for the carnival, but I feel that we need to do it for EVERYTHING. And that we start posting the survey results on our website. Not listing private names, etc. of course but listing the comments, grades given, etc. (Our carnival form was created to resemble a report card.)
We have several issues and I think this will help in two ways:
1) To help us provide the best possible things for our students, faculty, parents, etc.
2) Help to increase volunteerism, since people will finally start to feel like they have a voice in everything AND that they are being listened too. Basically display a larger sense of openness.
In the email I recommended that when the survey's are sent out that the event chair creates the survey and then some other board member, who wasn't directly involved with the event, be the one to collect the survey's and compile the information before sharing it with the board.
My thought behind that portion of the recommendation was:
When something happens to a super negative survey form (and we all know something will happen sooner or later!), from an extremely peeved parent, and the form never makes it to the PTO to start with, for whatever reason, while the information is still collected by the board since it isn't being collected by the event chair if/when the parent claims that their information was left off on purpose it won't hold as much weight. Especially if the person collecting the forms is so far removed from the situation that they really don't have a "stake" in it to speak. This way the event chair doesn't end up in a bad situation, having to defend themselves, for something that wasn't even of their making!
I have now had a board member question why that is necessary. She feels that the event chair put the work into the event and should be the one collecting the results.
So... my questions are...
How does your organization collect feedback and share it?
