Innovation of the Week Survey Results

In the summer of 2005, the Leader to Leader Institute underwent the Drucker Self-Assessment process. We conducted a survey of our Innovation of the Week subscribers to aid in the Institute's customer research--part of Peter Drucker's Self-Assessment process for organizations to reassess their mission and focus on their customers and results. The results of the survey are available below.

Total respondents: 320 (approximately 3.8% response rate)
Total population: Approximately 8500 surveyed

Demographic Information

The majority of respondents worked in small companies (less than 50 employees). An overwhelming majority were between the ages of 36 and 59, and there were slightly more males than females (55% vs. 45%). 72% of respondents has received a postgraduate education. 44% of the respondents worked in the social sector, though 20% worked in the private sector and 18% in government.

Subscription Questions

A majority of subscribers to the e-newsletter have been subscribed between 1 and 3 years. 48% have heard about it through our website, though 19% found it using internet search engines. 81% preferred the HTML format over the plain-text version, and 93% agreed that the content was easy to read.

Content Questions

Unsurprisingly, the featured Innovation of the Week was the section that respondents found most useful. Only 17% found the What's New section useful. When asked to rate the value of individual sections in the e-newsletter, most people responded that they were each "somewhat valuable" and a significant minority rated them as "very valuable." The same holds true for the overall quality of the information disseminated in the e-newsletter.

Content Questions

Unsurprisingly, the featured Innovation of the Week is the section that respondents found most useful. Interestingly, however, the "What's New" section was rated as most useful by the least number of respondents. When asked to evaluate each section of the e-newsletter, 70% found the Featured Innovation of the Week somewhat helpful, 65% found the What's New section somewhat relevant, and 51% said the featured articles and books section was somewhat valuable. Overall, 53% were satisfied with the information disseminated through the e-newsletter and 43% completely satisfied.

Closing Questions

48% of respondents were not interested in becoming a member but 34% were interested in becoming members. 18% were already members. 51% of respondents thought that the Institute was somewhat effective in achieving its mission but 41% strongly believed that the Institute was very effective. A majority saw leadership as the social sector's greatest need, with a strong minority suggesting that strategic planning is the greatest need. Most of our respondents also read the e-newsletters from Harvard Business Review, with others also subscribing to The Nonprofit Quarterly, and The Chronicle of Philanthropy. To fulfill their leadership needs, a majority read print publications, though many also attended seminars, conferences, and subscribed to online publications.