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Response Rates for Mail Surveys of Nonprofit Organizations: A Review and Empirical Test
Mark A. Hager
The Urban Institute
Sarah Wilson
United Way of America
Thomas H. Pollak
The Urban Institute
Patrick Michael Rooney
Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis
The failure of a substantial portion of mail survey recipients to respond to invitations to participate in research projects raises issues of nonresponse error. Because this error is difficult to quantify, survey researchers seek high rates of return to signal legitimacy and reduce questions regarding nonresponse bias. Research on survey method indicates that the design of the survey research process has a measurable influence on the rate of survey returns. This article focuses on three aspects of research design that are expected to influence mail survey returns in surveys of nonprofit organizations: questionnaire complexity, use of Federal Express versus standard mail, and the use of monetary incentives. Using an experimental design, the research concludes that questionnaire complexity and the use of monetary incentives generate no difference in returns, whereas the use of Federal Express to deliver the survey to nonprofit executives has a measurable positive effect.
Key Words: survey research • response rates • nonprofit organizations
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Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 2,
252-267 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764003032002005
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