Pre-Season Strategic Planning: Discover Before You Decide With Surveys

When done well, surveys are powerful tools for gathering insight that supports decision-making, problem-solving, and long-term planning. But they must be used wisely and respectfully.

Feedback is a gift - offered voluntarily. Respondents don’t owe you their time or honesty, yet they give it. Treat it with care. Don’t dismiss difficult feedback and “don’t shoot the messenger.” Rarely is one comment an outlier - more often, that person is speaking for a quiet majority.

You don’t have to act on every comment. But you do have a responsibility to reflect, respond, and communicate what you’ll do (or not do) with what you’ve heard. Decide what you want to do with the feedback is up to you!

We typically break survey data into two categories:

• Quantitative data: The bubbled scores or scaled answers (great for trend analysis).

• Qualitative data: Open-ended comments (great for insight however remember, one comment is a data point, not a trend).

Five Questions to Ask Before You Launch a Survey

1. Will the information influence actual decisions?
   Don’t ask if you don’t plan to listen. Gathering feedback raises expectations—only ask when you're open to change.
   

2. Do you truly need new data?
   If you already have recent, relevant insights, don’t survey for the sake of it. Survey fatigue is real.
   

3. Have you closed the loop from past surveys?
   Share results. Show what changed. If you go silent after asking, don’t be surprised when participation drops.
   

4. Are you open to what the data says—even if it’s uncomfortable?
   Avoid designing surveys to confirm existing beliefs. Let the truth lead.
   

5. Is there trust in your process?
   If past feedback has led to retaliation or dismissal, expect low response rates and guarded answers. Build trust first.

Types of Surveys to Consider

• Organizational Assessment Tools
  Longer, structured tools that create baselines for organizational systems, leadership, and processes.
  

• Internal Stakeholder Surveys
  Useful for gathering input from staff, board members, and leadership teams. Ask yourself: When was the last time this was done—and were results shared?
  

• External Customer Surveys
  Feedback from students, members, patrons, donors, or consumers. What do they value, and what needs to change?
  

• External Stakeholder Surveys
  Insights from community leaders, funders, collaborators—even competitors. Where do they see your role evolving?
  

• Industry Standards & Benchmarking
  How do you measure success against industry norms, certifications, or peer organizations?
  

• Competitive Analysis
  Are others doing similar work? What sets you apart—and why aren’t you collaborating?

Strategic planning isn’t about rushing into a five-year vision. It’s about earning the insight to lead wisely. Use the tools of SWOT analysis and survey feedback not just to collect information, but to cultivate trust, spark conversation, and lay the groundwork for meaningful decisions.

In short: discover before you decide.