AssessmentResponse Rate Plan

Introduction

Any successful assessmentdeployment begins with a well thought out response rate plan. The purpose of this plan is to provide you with a road map as well as a very important timeline to ensure that you’ve done all you can to improve responses to your assessment.

This plan assumes that you have already discussed your assessment deployment and approved the final assessment instrument with your NEDARC TA Representative.

This document is created as a template to help you develop aResponse Rate Planfor your state, territory, or freely associated state to help you reach the program’s goal of an 80% response rate or better.

ASSESSMENT response rateOVERVIEW

1.At any time during the deployment of your assessment, you can request a response/non-response rate report or an Excel file of non-respondents from your NEDARC TA Representative.

2.Sending multiple contacts to potential respondents is one of the most effective ways to increase response rates. The templates provided by NEDARC to contact your respondents to participate in the assessment assume you will be emailing the invitation and subsequent responses to your EMS agencies. If you plan to use mail for any of your contacts, please discuss with your NEDARC TA Representative, as the templates are made for email contact.

3.How many agencies do you plan to assess?

Total #______

4.Did you receive a final cleaned version of the electronic list, from NEDARC, of all of the agencies you indicated in the previous question?(select one)
□ Yes □ No

If No, please contact your NEDARC TA Representative.

5.What is your target date to launch the assessment? ______

6.Do you have a list of organizations or key personnel in the EMS community that would be willing to support you in your efforts to encourage EMS agencies to participate in the assessment? List them below.

  • ______
  • ______
  • ______
  • ______
  • ______

OVERALL TIMELINE FOR MULTIPLE CONTACTSYSTEM:

Task / Approximate Date
Assessment invitation email sent
(send the day the assessment is open-best time to send is a Tuesday morning and you can decide what day to send invitation)
1. First reminder email sent
(approximately 3-4 days after the invitation)
2. Second reminder email sent
(approximately 1-2 weeks after the invitation)
3. Third reminder email sent
(approximately one month after the invitation)
4. Fourth and final email reminder (approximately 6 weeksafter the invitation)
5. Final contact starts using telephone script
(approximately 2 months after the invitation)

DETAIL OF THE ABOVE TIMELINE

We’ve provided templates for the assessment invitation and subsequent reminders.It is important to ask NEDARC for an Excel file of non-respondents (includes names and emails) so that those who have already responded to the assessment do not receive additional requests to complete the assessment.

Assessment Invitation

1.Create your assessment invitation according to the template provided by NEDARC. The content of the invitation should state what is being asked of respondents, why they were selected, what the survey is about, who is conducting it, the data are confidential, and how a potential respondent can contact you (or designated person) if they have any questions about the assessment. Information on how to access the assessment (emscsurveys.org) should also be provided.Keep a copy of your assessment invitation email with this plan.

2.What date will you send the assessment invitation email (should be sent the day the survey is open)? ______

I. First Reminder

  1. Request a list of the non-respondents from NEDARC.
  2. Create your first assessment reminder according to the template provided by NEDARC. This reminder should explain that a survey invitation was sent, provide the website, and remind the potential respondent why the assessment is important to complete.Keep a copy of your assessmentreminder email with this plan.
  3. What date will you send the first reminder email (should be sent approximately 3-4 days after the assessment invitation)? ______

II. Second Reminder

1.Request a list of the non-respondents from NEDARC.

2.Create your second assessment reminder according to the template provided by NEDARC. This reminder can provide personalized feedback (i.e., we have not heard from you) and emphasize the importance of the recipient’s response. Keep a copy of the reminder email with this plan.

3.What date will you send the secondassessmentreminder email (should be sent approximately one week after the assessment invitation)? ______

III. Third Reminder

  1. Request a list of the non-respondents from NEDARC.
  2. Create your third assessment reminder according to the template provided by NEDARC. This reminder should also provide personalized feedback and importance of response. Keep a copy of the reminder email with this plan.
  3. What date will you send the third assessment reminder email (should be sent approximately one month after the assessment invitation)? ______

IV. Fourth Reminder

  1. Request a list of the non-respondents from NEDARC.
  2. Create your fourth assessment email reminder according to the template provided by NEDARC. This reminder should also provide personalized feedback and importance of response. Keep a copy of the reminder email with this plan.
  3. What date will you send the third assessment reminder email (should be sent approximately 6 weeks after the assessment invitation)? ______

V. Final TelephoneContact

1.Request a list of the non-respondentsfrom NEDARC.

2.Make an effort to contact each non-respondent personally. Use the provided templated script or something similar to the wording below:

For example:
Hello! I’m calling because of a special effort being made by the Emergency Medical Services for Children Program to better understand the needs of children in the pre-hospital environment. Recently, we sent you anassessment to complete. I wanted to follow-up and make sure that you received our assessment invitation…

3.What date(s) do you plan to personally contact the non-respondents(should be done approximately 2 months after the assessment invitation)?
______

Budget Notes / Items to Remember:

______