How to Survey Citizens in a Small Town (List of best tools)

Small towns thrive on connection. Whether you’re a city council member, a community organizer, or just someone who wants to make your neighbourhood a better place, surveying your fellow citizens is a powerful way to understand their needs and shape the future together.

But how do you do it in an easy, effective way?

Here’s how you can create effective surveys to gather valuable feedback from citizens.

1. Why Surveying Matters in a Small Town
2. Step 1: Know The Reason For The Survey
3. Step 2: Keep It Short (Think Coffee Break Length)
4. Step 3: Share Your Survey With Citizens
5. Step 4 Analyzing Survey Data
6. Step 5: Share What You Learned
7. Survey Template for Municipalities
8. Choosing the Right Survey Tool for Your Municipality

 

Why Surveying Matters in a Small Town

Why Surveying Matters in a Small Town

You probably already think you know what people want—because you hear it at the coffee shop, at the local market, or during school pickup. But informal chatter only tells part of the story.

A well-designed survey:

• Gives everyone a voice.
• Helps back up decisions with actual data
• Uncovers needs or frustrations you didn’t realize existed
• Builds trust

Step 1: Know The Reason For The Survey

Before you start writing questions, think about what you want to learn. Focus on one objective per survey. Trying to ask the same questions about road repairs, youth programs, and parking rules is a great way to get unclear answers and fewer responses.

Instead, pick a theme:

• “What kind of events should we plan for summer?”
• “How safe do you feel walking downtown?”
• “How do you get your local news?”

Be clear, simple, and focused.

Step 2: Keep It Short (Think Coffee Break Length)

Attention spans are short—even in a small town where life is slower. Aim for 5–7 questions max. Make it something someone can finish while waiting for their latte at the corner café.

Use a mix of:

• Multiple choice (easy to analyze)
• Rating scales (e.g., 1–5 on satisfaction)
• One or two open-ended questions (for those who want to say more)

Example:

“How would you rate the current condition of the town park?”
○ Poor ○ Fair ○ Good ○ Excellent

Step 3: Share Your Survey With Citizens

Once you’ve created your survey, it’s time to get it in front of your community.

Most online survey tools generate a unique link for each survey, making it easy to share on social media and your website. You can even print a QR code to display at the entrance of your different facilities across town.

Sharing Your Community Survey:

• Social Media and QR Codes: Promote your survey on social media and place a QR code in high traffic places and on notice boards.
• Email and SMS Integration: Distribute the survey link via email or text to your citizens parents.
• Include in Your Newsletter: Your monthly newsletter is a great opportunity to survey residents.

Step 4: Analyzing Survey Data

Step 5: Share What You Learned

This is the part many people forget, but it’s so important.

Even if your survey got 30 responses, tell people what you found out:

• Write a quick summary in your town newsletter or Facebook page
• Post a few graphs (people love visuals!)
• Say what you’ll do next based on the feedback

When people see their input leads to real change, they’re way more likely to fill out the next survey.

Survey Template for Municipalities

Here is a Survey Template for Municipalities that was created using Activity Messenger. Test it out and see if you like it.

Choosing the Right Survey Tool for Your Small Town

If you’re conducting a survey in a community or small town, you need a tool that’s not only easy to use, but also tailored to your specific needs.

Here’s a closer look at four popular survey platforms: Google Forms, Jotform, SurveyMonkey, and Activity Messenger. We’ll discuss pros, cons ideal use cases.

Quick Summary Table

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Google Forms

Best for: Google forms is best for quick surveys
Price: Free with a Google account

Pros:

• Totally free and unlimited
• Integrates with Google Sheets for easy data tracking.
• Simple to set up and share via link, email, or QR code.
• No learning curve, if you’ve ever used Google Docs, you’re good to go.

Cons:

• Very basic in terms of design—no branding or customization unless you get crafty.
• No built-in analytics beyond raw data (you’ll need to analyze in Sheets or Excel).
• Lacks advanced logic (like skip questions or conditional logic).
• No pre or post survey communication to0ls.

Ideal for: One-off polls, feedback forms, or simple voting-style surveys in a small town.

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Jotform

Best for: Jotform helps you create clean-looking forms with more flexibility
Price: Free up to 100 monthly submissions; paid plans start around $39/month

Pros:

• Drag-and-drop builder makes it easy to create surveys.
• Conditional logic, file uploads, and form branching
• Templates for community feedback, event registration, and more.
• Export data to PDF or Excel, and generate reports with charts.

Cons:

• Free plan is generous, but the submission and storage limits may be tight for larger projects.
• Branding appears on forms unless you upgrade.
• Slightly steeper learning curve than Google Forms for some users.

Ideal for: Small towns that want professional-looking forms or need to gather detailed, structured feedback.

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SurveyMonkey

Best for: SurveyMonkey is best for surveys with in-depth analysis and segmentation
Price: Free for up to 10 questions and 40 responses per survey; paid plans start at $25/month

Pros:

• Polished interface and mobile-optimized surveys.
• Analytics dashboard, including graphs, trends, and text analysis.
• Supports skip logic, randomization, and A/B testing.
• Share results with collaborators via reports or dashboards.

Cons:

• Very limited free plan. You’ll likely need to upgrade even for basic usage.
• Slightly more corporate feel; may be to much for small, community-driven surveys.
• No built-in SMS, email newsletters, or community tools.

Ideal for: Town-wide planning, community satisfaction surveys, or grant reporting when data accuracy is key.

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Activity Messenger

Best for: Community engagement, events, and follow-up communication
Price: Starts at 69$ and replaces a bunch of tools like Mailchimp, Eventbrite and TxtSquad

Pros:

• Designed for community groups, rec programs, and local governments.
• Combines forms with email, SMS, and newsletters in one platform.
• Easy to segment and follow up with survey respondents
• Supports QR codes & mobile-friendly surveys
• Includes branding customization and analytics.

Cons:

• Not as widely known as the other platforms.
• Focused on community-based orgs, so not ideal for corporate use cases.
• No free plan to get started.

Ideal for: Small towns with recurring events, sports leagues, summer programs, or municipal activity registrations, especially if you want to do more than just collect data.

Final Thoughts: Surveying Builds Community

In municipalities & small towns, every voice matters. When you ask for feedback (and actually listen), you’re not just collecting data. You’re building relationships and making your town stronger, smarter, and more connected.

If you want to learn more about Activity Messenger and how we help municipalities and small towns with surveys, waivers, newsletters, online registration and much more, book a demo with one of our experts.