ANHLC Member Survey 2009

05 Feb 2010
ANHLC_Erica

ANHLC Member Survey 2009

It is with excitement that we present to you the ANHLC member survey 2009.

For the first time, we are conducting the survey electronically using Survey Monkey. The majority of those who tested it for us ranked it as ‘quick and easy’. Using Survey Monkey is also much easier for us in terms of data analysis and reporting.

The ANHLC member survey provides us with vital baseline data on the sector as a whole to inform our policy and advocacy work. We’re gathering this data primarily to report our achievements and help demonstrate the contribution that Houses / Centres make to communities.

NH Networks will receive data on the Houses / Centres in their individual networks, whilst ANHLC will post the overall survey results on our website and in our newsletter. We ask for the name of the House / Centre for data verification purposes: all public reporting will be de-identified (numbers/stats only).

This year’s survey includes questions on the impact of the new Children’s Services Regulations and the new Skills Reform agenda and changes to ACFE. Thanks to the new technology, you’ll only see these questions if they are relevant to your House / Centre, i.e. the survey asks ‘Is your House / Centre a licensed child care provider?’ and only if you answer ‘yes’ does a second set of questions come up on the impact of the new childcare regulations.

This online survey should take approximately 15-20 minutes to complete as long as you have the right information at hand.

Sounds too good to be true, right?

OK, nothing’s perfect. Due to the structure of the survey, once you’ve completed a page and moved to the next page you cannot go back to edit your responses on previous pages. Nor can you save your changes and come back later. You must complete the survey in one sitting.

It is important you do NOT use your browser’s “back” or “forward” buttons to navigate through the survey. Use the “next” button to move forward in the survey.

We apologise for these limitations. However, to overcome them we recommend you collect all the required information and documentation before starting the survey and set aside some uninterrupted time to complete it.

The following topics are covered in the survey:

  • Income and sources of funding
  • Programs and participants
  • Staffing and volunteers
  • Planning and needs analysis
  • ACE and ACFE
  • Childcare

In terms of income, we are interested in the total income of the House / Centre as per your most recent annual report (for the year ending Dec 2008 or June 2009, whichever applies).

The rest of the questions refer to the 2009-10 financial year and some to the 2009 calendar year. This is due to varying arrangements of funding bodies, e.g. NHCP works on a financial year and ACFE on a calendar year. Read the questions carefully to be sure.

We are interested in how many different sources of funding you are drawing on for the 2009-10 period – information which can be found in your current Funding and Service Agreements, contracts and/or organisational budget. We are not interested in the amount for 2009-10 (we’ll ask you about this next year!).

Here are some tips for completing the survey quickly and painlessly:

  • Read through this covering email carefully
  • Check out the checklist below and have all relevant documentation and figures ready before you start
  • Set aside some uninterrupted time to complete the survey – if you have all documentation at hand it should only take about 15-20 minutes
  • Questions with an asterix require an answer – you will not be able to move forward until you answer them
  • Multiple choice questions with round boxes allow only one response per question
  • Multiple choice questions with square boxes allow multiple responses per question
  • In most cases “comment” boxes do not require an answer to move forward in the survey (most are optional, allowing you to add more information if you like)

If you have any problems with the survey contact Erica at ANHLC on (03) 9654 1104 or erica@anhlc.asn.au

Survey check-list
Before you start, gather together the following:

  • Your most recent Annual Report (for the year ending Dec 2008 or June 2009, whichever applies)
  • NHCP Funding and Service Agreement 2009-10
  • ACFE Funding Agreement 2009
  • Any other funding agreements for 2009-10 or 2009 (e.g. from local government, other Grants, DHS / HACC, VicHealth, etc)
  • NHCP and / or ACFE reporting documentation
  • Organisational tax records e.g. Notice of Endorsement as Tax Concession Charity (formerly known as Income Tax Exempt Charity or ITEC) and / or DGR endorsement

It might also be helpful to have some of the following internal records or reporting documents:

  • Organisational budget for 2009-10
  • Volunteers log book or record of attendance
  • House / Centre program evaluation reports
  • House / Centre participant or student feedback summaries
  • Project reports
  • Childcare attendance records
  • Community Needs Analysis reports
  • Staff and payroll records

ANHLC and the NH Networks are working in partnership on this survey in order to reduce the workload for all concerned: for you, it means questions that would usually be asked by both ANHLC and the Networks have been combined into one survey. You get to indicate at the end of the survey if you are happy for ANHLC to pass on your raw (identifiable) data to your NH Network, or whether you would rather we just include your data as part of a general report back to the Network.

Finally, because we value this information so much, all Houses who complete the survey by Fri 22 Jan 2010 will go into the draw for a free registration for the next ANHLC Conference.

The only thing left to do now is complete the survey at the link below:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CBMGJCT

Good luck!