Resident polling for local government
Ask your residents. Get real answers in a week.
Civic Polling asks a representative group of your residents what they think, and gives you the results in seven days.
7 days
Start to finish
Your whole community
Matched to who lives there
From $3,500
Flat fee, quoted up front
What you get
What lands at the end of the week.
A result you can read in a minute and defend for an hour.
Do you support the proposed transit bond?
47%
support
All residents
The same question, by age
- 18 to 34
- 61%
- 35 to 49
- 54%
- 50 to 64
- 43%
- 65 and over
- 34%
- The overall result
- Every question you asked, with one clear number for your whole community. The file also reports how far each number could move, so you can say it out loud with confidence.
- The result by group
- The same questions broken down by age, gender, and ethnicity — or against any other question you asked.
- What residents wrote
- Comments in their own words, with the details of who wrote each one.
- The file and the page
- A clean spreadsheet your staff can work from, plus a results page you can print or save for the meeting packet.
How it works
How we build the group.
Three steps, run by our team, so the number you carry into a public meeting stands for your whole community.
- 1
We text residents at random
We draw a random group of residents from the area you choose and text them the questions, so the people who answer were picked rather than self-selected.
- 2
We keep texting until the group is complete
While the poll is open we watch its shape. If any group of residents is answering in small numbers, we text more of them until the count is there.
- 3
We match the result to your jurisdiction
The final numbers are adjusted so they reflect who actually lives in your jurisdiction, and the file reports how far each number could move.
How long it takes
A week, start to finish.
Tell us on Monday. Take it to the meeting the following Monday.
Days 1 and 2
Days 3 to 6
Day 7
Days 1 and 2
Days 3 to 6
Day 7
Questions written and approved
We write the questions, or tighten the ones you have. You sign off on the final wording and on the groups you want to see the results broken down by.
Residents answer, and you watch it happen
Invitations go out by text and answers land on your dashboard as they arrive. We text more residents from any group that is running light before the poll closes.
Results delivered, ready for the meeting
The overall numbers, the breakdowns, the comments, and the complete file — ready to put in the packet.
Proof
It works where it has run.
5.1x
the response of the county's own earlier outreach
On a transit bond measure, for a major county in Georgia.
Price
One price, agreed before we start.
$3,500
Starting price for a poll
- The questions, written and approved with you
- Text invitations to a random group of your residents
- Extra invitations to complete any group answering in small numbers
- A live dashboard while the poll is open
- The full results, the breakdowns, and the file
A flat fee
The price is agreed up front. Once you approve the questions, it does not change.
Billed as professional services
Your finance office books it the way it already books consulting work.
A formal RFP may not be required
At this price many local governments can use a simpler purchasing process, subject to their own rules.
Built for government
Built for a public body.
Standard on every poll, whether or not anyone asks.
Every invitation names your organization
Residents can see who is asking. The sponsor line is added for you on every message.
You choose an audience by place and by demographics
Neighbourhood, age, gender, and similar details are the filters a government account is offered, and the server holds to that list.
Residents answer on a plain page
The questions carry no branding of any kind, which is standard research practice and keeps the answers clean.
Text messages are registered
Outreach is registered with the carriers and follows the federal rules for contacting residents.
Tell us what you need to decide.
Book fifteen minutes. Describe the decision in front of you, and we will tell you whether a poll can answer it.