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Every Member Canvass Survey Results

Miriam Fahrer and Paul Carew

The Every Member Canvass Survey was successfully completed with 282 valid responses which, when correlated with the 665 pledging units, resulted in a 42.4% response rate. This is a very high percentage for returned questionnaires in a survey of this type. The respondents are to be congratulated for their good effort and candor, especially the voluminous written comments provided where requested. The written comments have equal weight and validity with the numerical responses when evaluating the survey results.

The data indicate that the majority of the respondents were well satisfied with their 2000 EMC experience, although the vice chairs and neighborhood captains who worked the canvass had more mixed feelings about the process. Familiarity, straightforwardness, and the time provided by the current system to reflect on respondent's pledge received high marks while the unfortunate problems with the database and the oftentimes irritating administrative aspects of the canvass were the major drawbacks. The factors that influenced pledge decisions the most were the respondent's gratitude to God, personal finances, and understanding of the Parish's needs and goals. Less influential were stewardship sermons in the context of pledge decision making. The respondents also indicated that the EMC video had little influence on their pledge decision, though in numerous comments respondents noted an interest in and enjoyment of the video including its usefulness as an educational tool. The respondents clearly were more than satisfied with their personal vision of stewardship. Volunteering as a vice chair or as a neighborhood captain in a future campaign, however, was viewed negatively by a majority of the respondents, though the number who would accept if asked was significant.

When considering future EMC formats, the respondents were equally divided between the current neighbor to neighbor packet system and a canvass conducted by mail and via the Internet. The other suggested formats received nominal interest. The written comments in support of the present system reflect the respondents' comfort level for a system that has been in place for a long period of time, while comments supporting change find that very fact more than sufficient reason to move on to a new process. The written comments also indicate that whatever system is chosen for the future, the database must be debugged and updated on a regular basis to reflect the current status of the parish. Otherwise, conducting a productive canvass would be difficult.

© 2001: Chapel of the Cross