Community Needs Assessment Toolkit

Check out this toolkit explaining how to canvass your own community based on the lessons learned from Rep. Aftyn Behn's social work intern Casey Pestona in Spring 2025.

Introduction

Community needs assessments are systematic processes that enable a deeper understanding of the circumstances within a community. Through surveys, focus groups, or one-on-one interviews, researchers can accurately assess community strengths and needs, and provide community members with a clear and transparent way to discuss issues on the record.

HOW COMMUNITY NEEDS ASSESSMENTS ARE USED

• Elected officials may use community needs assessments to inform their policy decisions. Community needs assessments can also help inform the distribution of resources within a community.

• Community organizations may use needs assessments to identify service gaps and to develop programs to address community issues.

• Activists and organizers may use community needs assessments to identify community issues and to gain clearer insights into problems impacting community members.

In this toolkit, the steps for conducting a community needs assessment through surveying will be explained, including defining the community, creating the survey, organizing the campaign, distributing the survey, and writing the report.

STEP 1: DEFINE THE COMMUNITY

The first step to conducting a community needs assessment is to define the community that will be assessed. It is important to clearly identify the area that will be assessed and to understand the area’s unique demographics. A helpful tool for this process is the United States Census Bureau.

Often, a specific census tract will be the focus of a community needs assessment, but regardless of how the community is defined, this resource provides information regarding the population, such as income and education levels as well as race and ethnicity.

Understanding the demographics of the community that is being assessed will influence the types of questions that should be on the survey as well as what languages the survey should be offered in.

IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERS

When defining the community, it is also important to identify stakeholders. Community members are stakeholders, but so are elected officials, community developers, community organizations, and business owners. These are the people that will care the most about the assessment’s results and will hopefully act on addressing any issues. It is important to gather contact information for as many stakeholders as possible, so that when the organizing campaign for the needs assessment starts, they can be informed about the process and the results.

DETERMINE SAMPLE SIZE

After identifying the community, determine what the necessary sample size for the survey is. This website offers a free sample size calculator. Understanding sample size will inform how many surveys need to be distributed, as well as how many responses are necessary to maintain a desired confidence level.

Once the sample size is determined, it is easier to estimate how long the community needs assessment will take to complete.

ESTIMATING THE TIMELINE

Before creating the survey and reaching out to stakeholders, it is a good idea to have a rough timeline for how long the community needs assessment will take.

Dropping off surveys is a much quicker process than canvassing for a political campaign. Instead of trying to persuade community members, they are left with a survey to complete on their own time. Every community is different— rural areas where houses are farther apart will take longer to distribute surveys. However in an average residential area, it is likely to visit 20-30 houses in the span of an hour.

To determine how many hours the community needs assessment will take to complete, simply divide the sample size by the number of houses that can easily be visited in an hour. For example, if the sample size is 500, and 25 houses can be canvassed in an hour, this means the community needs assessment will require about 20 hours of canvassing.

Once the number of hours to complete the assessment has been determined, it is easier to form a timeline around dropping surveys off. Divide the required hours by the length of each canvassing event, and that is how many canvassing shifts will be required. This will help with determining how many days the process will take and how many volunteers are needed.

STEP 2: SURVEY CREATION

After identifying the community for the assessment and considering demographic information, the survey can be created. The first step to creating the survey is to determine what areas will be assessed.

Topics to Consider

1. Care and Services

2. Infrastructure

3. Local Economy

4. Public Safety

5. Discrimination

6. Education

7. Healthcare

If the goal is to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the neighborhood, including topics regarding care and services, infrastructure, local economy, public safety, discrimination, education, and healthcare will be helpful.

However, choosing to focus on one specific topic could be appropriate when a more thorough understanding of a specific issue is required.

It is very important to focus on relevant issues when creating survey questions. For example, in a community where public transit was recently expanded, it would be pertinent to ask questions regarding public sentiment towards public transit.

Ethical Considerations When Creating Survey Questions

1. Avoid leading questions— ask questions in an unbiased manner

2. Use clear and easy to understand language— this helps individuals who might struggle with literacy

3. Practice cultural competence— offer surveys in multiple languages if necessary, and be mindful of how questions are phrased

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE QUESTIONS

Quantitative questions are close-ended questions that can offer objective responses. These types of questions often focus on frequency and preferences, and often use likert scales, multiple choice options, or yes/no responses. Quantitative questions are easy to answer and easy to analyze.

Qualitative questions are open-ended and tend to focus on gathering more in-depth data about attitudes. They allow room for explanation regarding the how and why. These types of questions are not as easy to quantify as quantitative questions, but they offer deeper insights into issues.

Combining both types of questions in a survey can allow for a more comprehensive understanding of community issues.

SURVEY FORMAT

Surveys can be offered in digital formats as well as on paper. Both formats come with their own considerations, but giving survey participants multiple options to accessing the survey will more than likely result in higher response rates.

• Digital surveys can easily be created using tools like Google Forms. Survey participants can be given a QR code to access the survey (QR codes can be created on Canva) and from there participants can answer survey questions easily. This approach tends to be faster since it does not involve picking up paper surveys, and responses on Google Forms are automatically recorded in Google Sheets, which makes analyzing results simpler. A drawback to using this method exclusively is that some people do not have access to the internet or a computer and will not be able to complete a survey digitally.

• Paper surveys offer more anonymity than digital surveys and are more accessible to those who lack internet access or who are uncomfortable with digital formats.

Click here to access a sample survey.

DATA

Think about what data will need to be collected for the assessment. Is it necessary to include questions regarding income, education levels, race, religion, or ethnicity?

Collecting this type of data might offer more insight into responses. For instance, if the community being assessed has higher rates of poverty, but it is also experiencing gentrification, receiving responses exclusively from households with higher income levels might mean that additional surveying is necessary to truly understand community needs.

It is also important to note that recording data, particularly regarding personal identifying characteristics, could put participants in a vulnerable position. Because of this, if marginalized groups live in the community being assessed, data collection could be a deterrent from participating in the assessment.

When it comes to data collection, it is best to only collect what is necessary. Oftentimes, it is not necessary to collect any additional data outside of survey questions. Whatever approach is taken, ensure that all participants understand what data if any is being collected before they take the survey.

SURVEY INSTRUCTIONS

Clear instructions should be included with each survey. Each set of instructions should include:

1. The surveys purpose– provide context for why the assessment is being conducted

2. The time commitment– describe how long the survey will take

3. Information regarding privacy– explain whether responses will be made public and if data is being collected describe how it will be used and who will have access to it

4. Information regarding survey pick-up– if delivering paper surveys, explain the process for how surveys will be collected and provide a clear date for when the surveys must be completed by

5. Provide contact information– creating an email address specifically for the needs assessment as well as a Google Voice number so participants can contact those conducting the assessment is helpful

SURVEY LANGUAGES

Consider the demographics of the neighborhood when determining which languages to offer the survey in. For many communities, offering the survey only in English can result in sampling bias and deter individuals for whom English is a second language from participating.

Google translate is a helpful tool for creating bilingual surveys, but it is important to note that it is imperfect, and it is always best practice to involve someone who is fluent in the language when creating the survey.

In addition to offering the survey in multiple languages, ensure that survey instructions are also offered in the necessary languages.

SURVEY DISTRIBUTION

Once the survey is created, it is important to determine how surveys will be distributed. Will the survey be distributed digitally or in person?

Relying exclusively on email and social media will undoubtedly yield less participation. Going door to door with surveys will ensure that more people are aware of the community needs assessment. Creating survey packets can allow for a professional delivery of surveys.

Helpful Materials for Creating Survey Packets

1. 9x12 Envelopes

2. Paper Survey

3. Survey Instructions

4. QR Code for Digital Survey

5. Sticker or Label for Envelope (consider placing a sticker or label on the outside of the packet so that participants know what is inside each packet)

6. Stapler & Staples

Surveys can be delivered directly to community members or left on door stops. It is illegal to place something in someone’s mailbox.

STEP 3: CAMPAIGN

Before distributing surveys, it is important to inform the community of the assessment. Creating a digital and offline campaign to inform the public of the assessment will not only help promote higher participation, but will also help with recruiting volunteers to canvass, and will encourage stakeholders to get involved.

Consider creating separate flyers for community leaders, community members, and for volunteers. These flyers should include information about the assessment, such as the date and time it will be held, contact details, and opportunities for participation. Canva is a great tool for this.

Reach out to community leaders informing them of the assessment and provide information regarding when the assessment will begin and wrap up. Discuss what topics will be assessed in the survey, and explain why this matters to them. Also consider asking them to share information regarding the assessment.

Recruit volunteers to help canvass the community by posting flyers on social media that describe what days canvassing will take place and how to sign up to canvass. Google Forms is a great tool for signing volunteers up as well.

If the community being canvassed has many community members who do not speak English, prioritize recruiting canvassers who are fluent or familiar with the language commonly spoken within the community. If there is a way to get community members involved in the assessment process that will also be helpful.

Also consider going to local businesses either in or around the community and ask to post flyers catered to community members on bulletin boards. Businesses can also be asked to share flyers on their social media accounts.

STEP 4: DROPPING OFF SURVEYS

After canvassing dates have been set and volunteers have been recruited, it is time to start planning canvassing routes for dropping off surveys. There are several different ways to approach this. For instance, numerous apps exist that will plan routes for canvassers, like miniVAN.

USING CANVASSING APPS TO CREATE ROUTES

MiniVAN is a mobile canvassing app frequently used by progressive political campaigns that uses voter data to coordinate canvassing routes. In the app, it can be tracked whether direct contact was made with a community member or if the survey was refused.

One major drawback to this app is that it focuses on households that are likely to vote in favor of progressive causes. Exclusively using miniVAN will result in conservative voters and non-voters being left out of canvassing, which will cause a significant sampling bias.

To avoid this, households that are along the routes but not listed in the app should also be visited. It should be noted that using this approach will make tracking surveys more complicated because the only households the app will track the survey progress of are the households featured on the app.

Other drawbacks to using canvassing apps include that they can be very expensive. Additionally, when in areas with poor cell phone reception, apps might fail to sync or work slowly.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH TO CREATE ROUTES

The traditional approach to creating canvassing routes takes a bit more time and patience, but will likely be the best option when canvassing apps are not in the budget or the community being assessed has a high percentage of conservative voters or non-voters.

Refer to Google Maps and create routes for canvassers. This approach might be unrealistic if thousands of households are being considered for an assessment, but when assessing a smaller community this method is not too complicated.

Addresses can be put in a Google Sheet that can easily be shared with canvassers so that they can see their routes, and mark whether or not direct contact was made with a person living in the house, the survey was refused, or the house was inaccessible. Of course these spreadsheets can also be printed out and canvassers can use clipboards to check-off households as well.

This approach ensures that all households within the community are given the same level of attention, and it costs nothing.

CANVASSING 101

Before sending people out into the community to drop off surveys, it is important to discuss canvassing basics. Canvassers should be trained regarding etiquette, how to discuss the community needs assessment with members of the community, how to track surveys, and basic safety protocol.

Canvassing can be somewhat intimidating for anyone who has not canvassed before, but it is important to remember that canvassing for a community needs assessment is very different from canvassing for a political campaign, and it is less likely that canvassers will be met with hostility when community members are aware that the assessment is ultimately to record their thoughts and opinions regarding community issues.

Despite the relative ease of canvassing for a community needs assessment, it is essential to discuss canvassing basics with all canvassers and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Canvassing Basics

1. Safety:

   1. Share canvassing plans with team and trusted contacts before going out into the community.

   2. Ensure mobile devices are fully charged.

   3. Have canvassers share their location with a team leader and establish check-in times.

   4. Check the weather for canvassing events. If inclement weather is a possibility, it is best to cancel canvassing events. If the temperature is going to be hot, ensure canvassers have water and sunscreen.

   5. Ensure canvassers know not to enter someone’s home.

   6. Notify canvassers if the community lacks sidewalks, and make sure they know to look out for drivers.

   7. Keep track of any incidents that might arise while canvassing.

   8. Partner canvassers up– one canvasser can take one side of the road, and the other canvasser the opposite, or they can go to each household together.

   9. Be aware of any allergies or serious health issues canvassers might have.

2. Etiquette

   1. Encourage canvassers to note any signage at residences. If there is a “no soliciting” sign it is best practice to omit those households. Also be aware of notes on the door— if there is a note saying to not ring the doorbell because there is a sleeping baby inside it would be best to simply leave the survey by the door.

   2. If a community member refuses a survey, inform canvassers to thank them for their time and not press the issue.

   3. Canvassers should be aware of the culture within the community and practice cultural humility.

   4. Ensure that canvassers know not to place anything in a mailbox, because that is illegal.

3. The Pitch

   1. Before going out to the community, let canvassers know what they should say to community members when they make direct contact.

   2. If there is a digital survey option, ensure canvassers know to inform community members of all the ways they can access the survey.

   3. Ensure canvassers inform community members of the deadline for submitting survey responses.

4. Tracking Surveys

   1. Whether using an app like miniVAN or using a traditional method, ensure that canvassers know how to track survey drop-off.

After surveys have been distributed, responses will start coming in. If the deadline for survey submissions comes around and survey response rate is low, it is possible the area will need to be recanvassed.

It is important to note that survey response rate is often low. It is not unusual to have a rate of less than 10%. While this might make it impossible to generalize findings, it does not mean there is not a story to tell.

STEP 5: WRITING THE REPORT

Once all survey responses are collected, the process of writing the report can begin. The report should include a basic summary, the method of conducting the assessment, findings, a discussion regarding findings, and conclusions for future work.

When writing the report, it's essential to consider your audience and remain mindful of ethical responsibilities. Avoid including any information that could potentially harm community members.

Once the report is finalized, it can be sent to community stakeholders and anyone who requested the report, and advocacy work regarding community issues can begin.