Tell Makeform which community you serve, what decision is ahead, and whose perspective you need. Get a focused community survey with neutral questions, practical choices, optional context, and room for residents to explain what matters.
Unlimited free surveys·
Editable before publishing·
Multiple choice, scales, and open comments·
Built for local governments and community organizations
Route community survey responses to Google Sheets, Slack, and Zapier.
Sample prompts for the survey builder
Choose a starting point, adapt the details, or send the prompt to the Makeform builder. Each example shows a useful structure.
Prompt ready4 formats
Audience
Residents helping shape an annual plan or budget
Format
Priority ranking with service ratings and comments
Prompt size
487 chars
Brief qualitySends to builder
Example survey structure
Priority ranking with service ratings and comments
Prompt exampleEditable in builder
Which neighborhood or ward do you live in?
DropdownFirst ask
2
How would you rate each local service?
Rating scale
3
Choose your three highest priorities
Checkboxes
4
Why is your first priority important?
Long answer
5
May the city contact you about your response?
Yes / no
Suggested analysis tags
Suggested
Service priorities
Neighborhood needs
Follow-up requested
Ask about one decision at a time and include a clear 'not sure' or 'not applicable' choice; forced answers can make priorities look more certain than they are.
Step 1
Define
name the decision and the residents affected
Step 2
Ask
use neutral questions and answerable choices
Step 3
Reach
share through the channels your community uses
Step 4
Act
group themes and report what happens next
Designed for useful input
Turn broad community concerns into answerable questions.
A useful community survey connects every question to a real planning choice. It balances comparable ratings with open comments, gives residents relevant response options, and avoids collecting personal details that the project does not need.
Priorities you can compare
Ask residents to select or rank a limited number of priorities instead of marking every issue 'important.' A forced shortlist reveals tradeoffs while an open explanation preserves the reason behind each choice.
Context behind the score
Follow a service rating with a targeted comment such as 'What is the main reason for your rating?' The number supports comparison; the explanation points staff toward a concrete improvement.
Relevant paths for different residents
Use conditional branches so park users see park questions, program participants see program questions, and people who have not used a service can explain why without rating an experience they never had.
Four common survey briefs
Start with the public decision, not a generic questionnaire.
Community surveys serve different planning moments. Pick the closest purpose, then replace example services, places, and response choices with language residents recognize.
Strategic priorities and budgeting
Compare service experiences, collect a short ranked priority list, and ask why the top item matters before annual plans or budget discussions begin.
Community needs assessment
Map household needs, barriers to existing support, preferred locations or times, and missing resources without asking respondents to disclose more than the planning team can use.
Project and place input
Gather how people use a street, park, library, or facility today, then test specific options and tradeoffs rather than asking only whether they 'support improvements.'
Program experience
Measure access, usefulness, timing, communication, and obstacles after a program, then ask what participants want changed or offered next.
Community survey workflow
Build a survey residents can answer and teams can use.
A clear brief gives the generator the boundaries it needs: the decision, the audience, the topics, the tradeoffs, and the action that responses will inform. Review the generated questions with the people who will analyze and act on the results.
State what the organization must decide, the geographic area involved, who is affected, and when input closes. Name the actual services or proposals instead of asking the generator for a broad satisfaction survey.
02
Review wording and response choices
Remove leading language, double questions, jargon, and overlapping choices. Add 'not used,' 'not sure,' or 'prefer not to answer' where appropriate, and keep optional context questions at the end.
03
Test the path before sharing
Complete the survey as a resident from several neighborhoods and as someone unfamiliar with the project. Check that branches work, mobile questions are readable, and every required answer is truly necessary.
04
Organize responses for follow-through
Send submissions into one review workflow, group open comments by topic and location, separate requests for staff follow-up, and keep a record of which questions produced each conclusion.
Choose the right question
Use each response format for the job it does best.
One survey can combine structured measures and residents' own words. The format should follow the decision: ratings compare experiences, selections reveal priorities, and open responses uncover needs the team did not anticipate.
Question format
What it reveals
Use it carefully
Question formatRating scale
What it revealsHow residents assess a service, place, or experience on the same set of labels.
Use it carefullyLabel both ends, include not applicable, and do not combine two services in one row.
Question format
Multiple choice or checkbox shortlist
What it revealsWhich needs, barriers, channels, or improvements apply and which deserve attention.
Use it carefullyUse a limited priority count when tradeoffs matter; add an 'other' field for missing options.
Question formatOpen comment
What it revealsWhy a rating was chosen, what is missing, or what a predefined list failed to capture.
Use it carefullyAsk a specific prompt and budget staff time to code themes and review follow-up requests.
Field guide
What a community survey should include.
The strongest surveys are short enough to finish and specific enough to guide action. Use these six sections as a planning checklist, then keep only the questions that serve the stated community decision.
Purpose and expectations
Tell residents why their input is being requested.
Open with the organization, topic, geographic scope, estimated effort, closing date, and a plain explanation of how responses will be reviewed. Clarify whether contact details are optional and avoid implying that participation guarantees a particular project outcome.
Name the decision, plan, service, or project the survey informs.
State who should respond and the area or community covered.
Explain the next step and provide a contact for survey questions.
Place and relationship
Understand how the respondent connects to the community.
Location and service-use context help a team see whether experiences differ across the area. Ask at the least identifying level the decision requires: a ward, neighborhood, service zone, or user type may be more useful than a full street address.
Neighborhood, ward, district, or ZIP code when geographic comparison matters.
Resident, worker, student, visitor, business owner, or service user relationship.
Length of connection and frequency of service or facility use.
Experience measures
Measure services with consistent, labeled scales.
Use one idea per row and repeat the same answer labels across a service matrix. Ratings become more interpretable when residents can say they did not use a service, and when a focused comment asks what most influenced a low or high score.
Access, reliability, quality, communication, or overall experience as separate measures.
Fully labeled scales with not used, not sure, or not applicable choices.
A conditional follow-up asking for the reason behind a selected rating.
Needs and priorities
Make residents choose what should come first.
A long checklist where every item can be marked important does not establish an order. Ask for a top three, a first choice, or a tradeoff between real options, then collect the reason. Keep the list balanced and randomize it when order could influence selection.
A realistic set of programs, services, projects, or needs under consideration.
A limited selection or ranking that distinguishes highest priorities.
An explanation of the top choice and an 'other priority' option.
Barriers and open input
Leave room for the issue your list missed.
Structured choices speed analysis, but open comments reveal language, locations, obstacles, and ideas the project team did not predict. Ask one concrete question at a time, and separate general comments from concerns that need a direct staff response.
Barriers such as schedule, cost, transportation, language, awareness, or accessibility.
A specific improvement, missing resource, or concern in the respondent's words.
An optional follow-up request with a preferred contact method.
Optional respondent context
Ask only for context the analysis will use.
Demographic questions can help identify whose experiences are represented, but they should have a stated analytical purpose. Place them after the substantive questions, make sensitive items optional, include inclusive choices, and provide prefer-not-to-answer options.
Age range, household context, language, or other characteristics tied to the outreach goal.
Separate voluntary contact information from the opinion questions when possible.
Review small geographic or demographic groups before reporting combinations that could identify people.
Related tools
Build the rest of your community listening workflow.
Use a focused survey for each audience or moment instead of stretching one questionnaire across planning, events, services, and volunteer programs.
Practical answers for local governments, nonprofits, associations, and planning teams preparing to ask residents for input.
What is a community survey?
A community survey helps a local government, nonprofit, coalition, or association gather residents' experiences, needs, priorities, and ideas. It may support a plan, budget, facility project, needs assessment, or program review. A useful survey names the decision, asks answerable questions, and combines consistent choices with space for explanation. It is one source of input, alongside outreach, discussion, and organizational review.
What questions should I ask in a community survey?
Start with how the respondent connects to the community and the relevant neighborhood or service area. Then ask about direct experience with the services, places, or programs in scope; needs or barriers; a limited set of priorities; the reason behind the top choice; and one open suggestion. Add optional demographic context only when the team has a clear plan to compare representation or experiences. End with optional contact information for people who request follow-up. Every question should connect to an action, comparison, or outreach decision.
How do I avoid biased or leading survey questions?
Use neutral language that does not praise one option or assume a problem exists. Ask one idea at a time: 'How satisfied are you with street lighting?' is clearer than asking about 'safe, well-maintained streets and lighting.' Make answer choices balanced, mutually understandable, and broad enough to cover likely views. Include not sure, not used, not applicable, other, or prefer not to answer where they fit. Test the draft with people who did not write it and ask them to explain what each question means.
How long should a resident survey be?
Keep it as short as the decision allows: a brief introduction, a few experience or need questions, one priority exercise, one or two open comments, and optional context at the end. Remove questions that are merely interesting. Split unrelated topics or use conditional paths so respondents see relevant sections. Test completion on a phone and state an estimate based on those runs.
Should a community survey be anonymous?
That depends on the purpose and the follow-up process. If individual identity is unnecessary, do not require names or contact details. If staff need to respond to a service issue, invite contact details in a clearly optional follow-up section. Explain what information the form asks for and how the organization intends to use it. Also consider whether combinations such as a very small neighborhood, age range, role, and detailed comment could make someone recognizable when results are reviewed or reported.
How can we hear from more than the people who already attend meetings?
Share through places different groups already use: websites, email lists, printed materials, events, libraries, partners, service locations, and direct outreach. Offer phone, paper, assisted, translated, or in-person paths when online-only participation would exclude people. Track outreach sources, compare responses with the groups you intended to reach, and focus additional outreach where perspectives are thin.
How should we analyze community survey responses?
Review question wording and response counts, then compare answers by planned geography, service use, or context without overinterpreting small groups. For comments, document themes, allow multiple themes per response, and separate requests needing a direct reply. Report who was invited, how outreach happened, how many answered each question, the limitations, and how findings connect to the decision.
Is the community survey generator free?
Yes. Makeform is unlimited free for generating, editing, publishing, and collecting responses to your community survey. The paid tier removes the Makeform badge. You can revise the generated questions, replace example services and neighborhoods, add response choices, and share the finished form through the channels that fit your outreach plan. Review the survey with your program, communications, analysis, and community-facing teams before launch so the wording and follow-up process match the real project.
Move from broad input to a focused survey.
Generate a community survey built around the decision residents can help shape.
Unlimited free surveysNeutral, editable questionsPriorities, ratings, and open comments
