A vigorous and interactive constituency is the foundation of a successful non-profit. In an ideal world, your constituents, from members to donors to staff, inform your mission and help you to define and measure your organization's success. Their opinions should play a prominent role in your planning and decision-making processes. This ideal, however, is not always practical. Insufficient time, money or resources can keep you from tapping into this important body of knowledge.

But what if there was a way to access this valuable feedback at lightning speed and immediately know what your community is thinking, feeling and doing? What if you were able to harvest compelling information you never had before and immediately tie it into your work? What if you could learn within a matter of minutes that, for example, ten percent of your donors would volunteer if asked, or that a majority of your organization’s members wanted you to initiate a new program? And what if this process was simple and affordable?

FM-IQ makes all this possible, allowing you to instantly tune in to your community and gather vital feedback to help you make important decisions. Online survey tools are also fast, easy to use and affordable. The following is an overview of how online surveys work and how to integrate them into your community-building efforts.

Now non-profits of all sizes, as well as foundations, associations and academic institutions, can use FM-IQ online survey tools to quickly, easily and inexpensively conduct in-depth research. Survey results can help inform non-profits' decision-making in a variety of areas, including fundraising, advocacy, programming, membership-building and communication and marketing plans.