Learning objective: Plan when and how often to survey, how to communicate about it, and how to raise participation without compromising your results.

For a full family survey, once or twice a year works for most programs. Surveying more often leads to survey fatigue: fewer families respond, answers get rushed, and families begin to wonder whether anyone reads them. If you need feedback on a single change between surveys, use a short check-in of two or three questions instead of the full survey.