Improving Online Survey Response Rate at Thomas Cole National Historic Site

Client: Thomas Cole National Historic Site | Location: Catskill, NY

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We helped Thomas Cole National Historic Site get to know its audience with a simple online survey.

OVERVIEW

In 2023, we worked with Thomas Cole National Historic Site (TCNHS) to collect updated demographic information from its visitors–it had been more than five years since their last visitor survey, and they wanted to better understand their current audiences and how (if at all) audiences had changed since their last survey. They also had struggled with low response rates to surveys in the past and wanted to make sure they would secure enough data to feel confident about the results.

APPROACH

With a limited budget, we designed a simple online survey of closed-ended questions that could be emailed to visitors shortly after their visit. We also designed a highly effective data collection protocol and schedule for TCNHS to use in its invitations to visitors. We conducted four months of data collection over TCNHS’s busiest season. With TCNHS’s commitment and follow-through in sending out recruitment emails and reminders, we yielded a 36 percent response rate from visitors–well above average for a typical online survey.

CLIENT TAKEAWAYS

With the survey results, we were able to provide TCNHS with fresh information about its visitorship and draw comparisons to prior its audience research. We found several interesting shifts in visitor characteristics, including an increase in repeat visitors and an increase in people visiting alone (versus in a group). We also found that TCNHS’s current exhibition–which focused on women’s roles in landscape painting–was a major highlight for visitors. These results are useful for both for guiding TCNHS’s planning and for preparing grant applications.