Now let’s talk about common survey mistakes. Recently when filling out a post-event survey, I realized many of the questions started with leading or double-barreled wording that only allowed for positive feedback, fluff answers, or biased interpretations. A leading question could be as simple as stating, “Our last event had a 98% satisfaction rating; how much did you like the event?” A double-barreled question would read, “How satisfied were you with the event food and performances?” These questions don’t allow for your audience to answer truthfully or unbiasedly. Consider the following changes to the questions above, “How satisfied were you with the event?” and “How would you rate the food selected for the event?”. These small changes allow for a more straightforward, less biased answer from your audience, giving you more accurate data to build on. Nonprofits should use surveys to determine the demographics served and evaluate your program’s effectiveness, satisfaction, and reach. Your organization should share positive feedback with the board, staff, funders, and potential clients. 

For those looking for ways to implement surveys, check out a few of the options below: 

1. Volunteer Surveys: Surveying your volunteers is perhaps the most accessible place to start. Volunteers have already shown their desire to see the organization grow and thrive through their donations. Therefore, they’re more likely to give you honest and productive feedback. Volunteers will also appreciate your desire to listen to their input, increasing the likelihood that they would volunteer for your nonprofit again. Many grants also want nonprofits to grow their volunteer base demonstrating satisfaction from the general public and program fund management.
2. Program Outcome Surveys: Every program should have surveys conducted at the beginning and end to help you accurately gauge reportable changes among your audience’s self-assessment of their abilities or the improvements made to their lives. For example, a coding organization would send surveys to students asking questions like “how much do you code per day” or “what is your experience with coding.” Then, at the end of the program, ask these same questions again to see actual improvements in each student’s self-perceived changes in abilities. This type of surveying method is called pre and post retrospective surveys. 

Another reason to implement this surveying method into your program development is grant reporting. Often grants will ask for quantitative data to reinforce your organization’s impact, and pre and post retrospective surveys are the most accurate way to report your results. In addition, the ability to achieve your objectives when applying for funding will create future funding opportunities. 

Surveys can help a nonprofit organization gather invaluable information that can lead to three significant outcomes: increased volunteers, donations, and grants. These survey results can be made into helpful and informative marketing pieces. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to efficiently gather data on the work your nonprofit performs. 

At SOGO Insurance, we value the work our nonprofits do for our community, and we love the opportunity to support your organization through strategic partnerships. If your nonprofit has a partnership opportunity or additional questions regarding risk management and insurance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

The post Straight From the Sales Director: How Surveys Help Nonprofits Develop and Win Funds appeared first on SOGO Insurance.

Whether you’re a business owner or employee, take some time to brush up on these skills. You might impress your IT Director by bringing up these points in the next weekly meeting. These tips will assist you and your business to stay on top of security measures: 

Practice Phishing Fire Drills 

As sneaky as it may seem, have the IT Director send out a “test phish” to all employees and see if anyone takes the bait. Send a data-capturing link to see who opened the mysteriously labeled link. Don’t publicly embarrass employees, but do require those that clicked the link to attend mandatory training on phishing and its potential effects on businesses. Sound a little harsh? Well, if your employees do accidentally and unknowingly participate in a real phishing scam, your company could be out thousands of dollars on recovery efforts. It’s worth training and a security refresher for those that were a little too trusting. 

Require Password Changes with Strong Limitations 

Employees WILL groan about this one, and we get it. It’s easy to remember “Fluffy123” vs. something like “Ex’cv5_djJ?7” because it rolls off the tongue a bit smoother. But easy passwords mean hackers can easily break into corporate systems and servers, leading to several deeper issues. Once the initial password stage is breached, hackers have access to digital information that can be subject to ransomware attacks, costing thousands or more for the company. Require a password change every six months, and try to reiterate the importance of lessening the sting.  

Use MFA When Possible

Multi-Factor Authentication can also seem to be a pain in your employee’s rears; however, it’s just one extra cautionary step to stopping hackers from breaching the system. In addition, most businesses work off platforms that allow MFA, so consider having a contest where the more employees that sign up for MFA can be entered to win a gift card or prize. Yes, they will have to click an extra button or answer an additional text, but the reward of protecting sensitive information is so great that it can be worth the trouble. 

Teach them the Art of Voice and Tone 

One of the easiest ways to teach a vital cybersecurity tip to employees is to recognize their colleagues’ and executives’ voices and tone. Hackers will often use the CEO or COO’s email address to send to employees because they are likely to respond quickly and not irritate the executive. But does the CEO generally end emails with “Kind Regards?” Probably not. This is not a sure-fire way of detecting fraudulent activity, but employees should be made aware that an executive will never ask them to buy Apple gift cards over an email. Instead, employees should have an open communication line to the IT department to report any suspicious activity safely and effectively. 

In case you missed it, check out our latest blog “Does Your Company Need Systems Breakdown Insurance?” to see how your company could save millions of dollars by securing your business’ system.

The post It’s Cyber Security Awareness Month: Are You Prepared? appeared first on SOGO Insurance.

As a partner of SOGO, we help your organization navigate the ongoing safety concerns the pandemic has brought through free and productive people risk management solutions. We have partnered with the leading-edge provider in human resource solutions with the power of real-time support from certified professionals. So whether your concern is current regulation changes at the state or federal level, employee training, prevention policies, or compliance issues, we are here to guide you.

With the rise of employment litigation surrounding Covid-19, including discrimination, workplace exposure claims, wage and hour lawsuits, and so much more, clearly outlining the financial burden Covid left isn’t close to over. For example, should employees be required to get a vaccination, return to in-person programming, be allowed to exceed sick days due to covid, be required to return to the office, etc.? Don’t subscribe to costly webinars or consulting fees to avoid future litigation claims as we are here to provide solutions free of cost.

Insurance professionals often tell you the first step to a safer work environment is a workers compensation policy. But, this statement is where we go against the grain! All clients should have an active workers’ compensation policy for accidents out of our control. Still, your insurance policies shouldn’t be a backup for ineffective or outdated policies. Our goal is to transform our client’s work environment from reactive to proactive, ensuring your nonprofit is financially secure.

The post Avoid Employment Litigation Following COVID-19 appeared first on SOGO Insurance.