Accountability can be scary, but it is critically important when a public organization is entrusted by people. Whether government, a nonprofit or a foundation, each organization has a responsibility to be held accountable by the people it serves.
One way to gauge performance and accountability is to ask the people that you serve. The Telluride Foundation’s Board decided this summer that we needed to solicit feedback.
We contracted with local Chris Keating of Keating Research to conduct a survey of our stakeholders’ perceptions of the Telluride Foundation and to gain their input. The survey was constructed and conducted with proven polling techniques to get unbiased responses.
The results are based on a dual-mode survey conducted from July 24 – August 26, 2018 — An online survey of 189 respondents from various email lists and a live interviewer telephone survey of 100 randomly selected residents of San Miguel, Ouray, and western Montrose counties, and the Town of Rico. The email lists were extensive, and the survey was widely shared with Telluride Foundation donors, regional nonprofits, school district employees, the Norwood community, as well as posted on the Foundation’s website. The random phone survey was used to reach beyond email contacts and to help validate the email responses.
The following are images of the survey results that summarize the profile of respondents and their answers to specific questions.
Overall, the news is good. The Telluride Foundation is well respected and liked, gets a high rating for its staff, and respondents feel that resources are being well invested.
In addition to the images represented below, the survey was also able to surface what people feel are the most important activities and initiatives and how we are doing on those activities and initiatives.
The survey found that the top 3 most important activities and initiatives were, the regional Community Grants program to nonprofits, early childhood development efforts, and public health programs. Not surprisingly, these are also rated as the most effective.
There are obvious areas of improvement that the staff and Board continue to review. For instance, one is that, as a community foundation, we need to communicate more effectively to the wider community about our programs.
Thank you to all those that participated in the survey. We appreciate you holding us accountable!
To see full survey results click here.
