How can a housing assistance nonprofit qualify and serve more clients without wasting the time and raising false hopes of those who don’t qualify?
The answer is clear to Beaches Habitat, explains Deborah Testa, website coordinator:
We have many applications in which we can use Alchemer’s user-friendly website tools to create our own surveys and questionnaires. However, what prompted us to partner with Alchemer was the fact that we were seeking to create a means in which prospective homeowners can fill out a simple questionnaire over the world wide web that will allow them to determine if they qualify to apply (on a preliminary basis) to purchase a Beaches Habitat home. We heard that Alchemer was user friendly, and one of the best web-based survey tools on the market.
Susie Miller, a member of Beaches Habitat’s affiliate’s Family Services Committee explains further:
I have been conducting informational meetings for prospective Beaches Habitat homeowners for the past five years. I’ve noticed that many people come to the meetings only to find out that they do not qualify to apply to purchase a Beaches Habitat home. For instance, they may not live within our service area, and this disqualifies them from applying. I always feel bad, as most of our prospective homeowners work and have young children, and attending a meeting to determine that they do not qualify, is a waste of their time. We also recognize that there are prospective homeowners who never take the first step to attend an informational meeting — it can be intimidating and overwhelming. For years, I’ve been thinking that there must be another way to screen prospective homeowners. We are now working on refining the questions for prospective homeowners to complete.
“We are excited about the potential of this questionnaire,” explains Debora. “After testing the questionnaire, and making any necessary changes to refine its use, we plan on introducing this tool to Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the country. This is the type of efficiency that is truly exciting as it relates to using the world wide web. Think of the thousands of hours that will be saved across the county by the creation of one simple web-based questionnaire. Our prospective homeowners will be able to fill it out in three to five minutes. If they do not qualify, they will know immediately — no false hopes or wasting time to attend a meeting. On the other hand, they will know more clearly if they qualify to purchase a Beaches Habitat home on preliminary basis, providing them with the confidence to attend our informational meeting. This is exciting!”
As for other uses for Alchemer as it relates to Beaches Habitat, “I have many ideas,” says Deborah. “Our affiliate builds homes, community and futures. We have volunteers who pledge 25,000 hours of their time yearly and a full after-school educational program for children of Beaches Habitat homeowners. There will be plenty of opportunities to put the tools available to us through Alchemer to use!”
About Beaches Habitat
Beaches Habitat (www.beacheshabitat.org) was founded in 1992 by a small group of volunteers committed to eliminating substandard and overcrowded housing in the Jacksonville Beaches area.
To date, they have completed more than 166 homes in the Beaches area. Beaches Habitat is multi faceted. Beaches Habitat builds new homes for families and provide education assistance to homeowners and their children.
About Alchemer
Alchemer (www.surveygizmo.com) is an online survey and data collection plus analysis tool that helps users easily create online surveys, polls, questionnaires, web forms, quizzes and landing pages for marketing, research and customer service research.
The company is known for its rich feature set and responsive customer service. Alchemer is based in Boulder, Colorado, with an additional office in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Alchemer is privately held.