League of Women Voters of Washington State Survey of MembersLeague of Women Voters member: You are invited to participate in the League of Women Voters Washington (LWVWA) survey. Who should I contact if I have any questions about this research? Please contact Francis Benjamin at benjamin@wsu.edu. If you have questions or concerns about your rights as a research participant, you can contact the WSU Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) at irb@wsu.edu. This study has been certified as exempt by the WSU HRPP.Why should I complete the survey? For the past few years, the League has been working on programs to improve its impact on our members, our communities, and our state. We want your opinion of how the League is doing and what we should continue to do or not do. Connecting local Leagues with each other and with the state League has been a priority. We want members to feel involved, well-informed, and engaged in activities that interest them. We also want members to be able to use and build on ideas then share with each other. Only you can tell us how you think this effort is going. Supporting local Leagues through the state website, Zoom meetings, and trainings is all part of improving our infrastructure, or capacity building, so we can do more things. Presenting statewide activities and events (on Zoom for the past year), Lobby Week, Action Workshops, Voter Services workshops, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) sessions have been part of that effort. We want to know if you’ve noticed and if it has made a difference. What’s the big picture? The Strategic Plan for LWVWA Sustainability was adopted in January 2017 to provide a roadmap for where the state League, supported by the local Leagues, should head in the next five years. As we approach the five-year mark of the plan’s adoption, the state Board has begun reviewing how well we are meeting this plan's goals. The Research Plan for Assessing LWVWA Effectiveness, initiated in January 2021, is based upon input from League members as well as external communities and partners with whom we work. The first phase involved 100 interviews by trained League members to identify themes to explore with the broader membership. The second phase is a survey of the entire League membership to elicit their opinions on League activities: the impact of state League activities in addressing its mission, the effectiveness of the state League in facilitating local League activities, and the efficiency of its organizational capability. In later phases, we will ask our external partners and others in the external community about how well we are doing. This information is essential for answering the following questions: are we doing what matters, and what improvements do we need to make to better further our mission. This study is also important for accountability to our members and our outside supporters, as it demonstrates that we are not afraid of honest appraisals and recommendations for readjustments. The survey contains a mix of questions—some requiring only concise answers but others that are open-ended for those who have more to say. It is focused on the state League and its activities, unless stated otherwise; it is not intended to be an evaluation of local League activities. We cannot stress enough that we are seeking all members’ opinions, regardless of how long you have been in the League or how active you have been. You joined the League for a reason, a purpose, and we want to know whether your expectations are being met and whether we are living up to our stated purpose for being “the League.” Who should I contact if I have any questions? Technical questions: Francis Benjamin, benjamin@wsu.edu Program contact: Jean Snider or Lunell Haught, jsnider@lwvwa.org or president@lwvwa.org To start the survey please click on the following link: Start Survey |