; Canadian FundRaiser Most public interest groups, nonprofits and local election campaigns do no polling research whatever. And by not doing so they’re missing a major opportunity to strengthen their work cost-effectively . In commercial marketing or larger election campaigns, defining a strategy without survey testing it would be unheard of. In local election campaigns, fundraising, and social issue marketing, it happens far too often. But those that do poll almost always see immediately what a valuable tool it is.

A good rule of thumb in general marketing is to look at your total “selling” budget and apply a percentage of it to market research. It makes little sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars on developing a strategy and delivering a message, but not use a small portion of that to try and determine if the formulation of that message (or the message itself) is effective.

A standard measure applied to marketing or political campaigning is that 10 to 15 per cent of your budget should go towards opinion research. Even five per cent for a small election or interest group campaign could be very useful. In most cases, the money and time you save or spend more effectively is worth many times this initial investment.

What polling can do for you
The horse race. For most people this is what polls are all about. Is your candidate, service, or idea winning? Whether you’re ahead or not and by how much should affect significantly how you conduct your campaign. But good polling is much more than that.

Is your work having an impact?
You’re with a social justice group about to launch a major campaign to raise funds for or awareness of an issue. By polling you can measure the awareness level before you begin. Once the campaign is running, you can periodically re-test to see if your strategy is working or needs to be changed.

Finding the most persuasive argument
You’re working to oppose nuclear power – but what point do you emphasize most and to whom? Cost? Safety? Environmental consequences? All good mass communications require focus – you can’t talk about everything at once and still hope to be heard. While you shouldn’t use polling to tell you what you believe, you should use it to help choose which of your many possible arguments are the most effective.

Targeting your audience
Using cross-tabular analysis you can determine not just what people in general think, but what the different sub-groups of the overall population you’re surveying think. Are older people more or less likely to support you? Are women more likely to be motivated by a certain argument than men? Is a certain geographic region not responsive to your campaign at all? Polling not only helps you define the right message but it helps you target it to the right people.

Refining your slogans, language and graphics
Once you’ve measured public opinion, found your best theme, and ensured you’re targeting it to the right audience – you can start honing your presentation. Slogans, graphics and language matter – a lot. Focus groups and polls can help you determine which words and images get your message across and which don’t.

Polling as a media tactic
Polling can be a media tactic in itself. Most pollsters charge under $1,000 for a question on their regular “omnibus” polls, which cover a variety of topics for different clients. If you choose questions carefully, you can get a important and valuable new information for relatively little cost.

Should polling on its own drive your strategy?
Obviously not. There are many other factors besides your poll results that will determine what you’re trying to do and how you’re trying to do it. But polling can provide you with essential additional information not usually available elsewhere. This information, combined with other strategic factors, can play an important part in helping you increase your overall chances of success.

Bob Penner is the president of Strategic Communications Inc., a Toronto-based campaign communication and fundraising consultancy.

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