We conducted an on-line occupant survey that generated 444 replies (30.8% of FTE). We acheived this rate by offering to put the respondent's name into a drawing for a $100 gift certificate.
The GBCI review team rejected our documentation for this credit since they weren't "anonymous" and wants us to perform a revised survey. It is extremely unlikely we will achieve the 30% threshold without this "prize". Any ideas on how we can move forward?
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Allison Beer McKenzie
Architect, Director of SustainabilitySHP Leading Design
LEEDuser Expert
646 thumbs up
January 12, 2011 - 2:41 pm
We have had success in the past by doing a paper survey (I know- not very green!) where people get a raffle ticket when they turn their surveys in in -person. This protects the anonymity of the survey while still allowing an incentive.
Dan Ackerstein
PrincipalAckerstein Sustainability, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
819 thumbs up
January 12, 2011 - 2:47 pm
Tim - Was including one's name with the survey mandatory? Or was there an option where an occupant could respond to the survey without including their name (even if that meant not being eligible for the prize)? If including a name was mandatory, I think you're stuck and will have to redo the survey as they request. The problem being that if I have to include my name, I may be less likely to be honest about complaints or problems than if I were allowed to be anonymous. However, if including the name was optional to get entered in the drawing, you absolutely should be OK. Allowing folks to trade their anonymity for a prize still assures individuals who are unhappy about building conditions with an avenue for responding honestly if they so desire. It's obviously not perfect, but I really think GBCI could live with that given the reality of how difficult achieving the required response actually is - I've been amazed at how many of my projects struggle to achieve 30% even with an incentive like the one you employed. This credit ends up being a much tougher undertaking than it appears on its face.
I hope this helps a bit.
Dan