Learning What Matters: A Community-Based Approach to Polling

A new tool that makes public insights within reach for Niagara organizations.

While polling is a staple of political campaigns and corporate market research, it’s a tool that local nonprofits and public sector leaders often leave on the shelf. Why? Cost. Complexity. Lack of time. Maybe in some cases it’s the belief that their community instincts are good enough. However, instincts may not test well.
Over the years, the Armstrong Strategy Group (ASG) team has watched community organizations try to make sense of shifting public needs with little more than anecdote. The intent was always good – organizations wanted to listen, and formal polling felt out of reach. It seemed that everyone needed to know what people thought, but no one could afford to ask.
That idea stayed with us at ASG, and now the idea is a reality.

Sharing the costs: A Smarter Way to Poll
The Quarterly Omnibus Survey (QOS) is a shared-cost polling tool offered by ASG, which gives Niagara-based organizations a way to gather reliable public opinion data. Each quarter, up to 15 questions are included in a survey of 500 Niagara residents. Organizations can submit one or more questions and receive results specific to their own submissions. QOS helps participants test assumptions, identify trends and inform strategic decisions.
QOS is for teams who want to know whether a program is understood, a message is landing, a gap is growing or an assumption needs to be challenged. It’s already helping organizations test impact narratives, explore service awareness and check whether the things they believe to be true are actually true.

Understand Sector-Wide Challenges
For sector-wide challenges, ASG also offers the Sector Insights Survey (SIS). Where QOS helps individual organizations ask a targeted question, SIS supports coalitions, alliances and associations in identifying broader public attitudes, market trends and shared challenges. SIS provides a coordinated way to listen to people living in the region and to respond with confidence.

Know What’s Working. Catch What’s Slipping.
Whatever your situation is, these tools will help the Niagara community to ‘get it right’, by learning what’s working, what’s changing, and, sometimes, what still needs to be asked..
The QOS Survey runs on a regular cycle, with participation confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis and each cycle capped at 15 questions.
If you’d like to know more about QOS or SIS, or whether either tool could support the work you’re doing, please reach out to us.

John Armstrong, Armstrong Strategy Group
communications@armstrongstrategy.com
 www.armstrongstrategy.com