K-12 Schools: Do you participate in the Voluntary Support of Education (VSE) Survey?

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Carlene Johnson
Carlene Johnson Community All-Star
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in Blackbaud Raiser's Edge NXT®: General Discussion

I'd love to hear from other K-12 Schools that use Raiser's Edge about the benefits of participating in the VSE Survey through CASE.

At my previous organization I participated for about 5 years, and at my current organization we participated last year for the first time. We also submit data for the DASL survey through NAIS. (Data and Analysis for School Leaders - National Association of Independent Schools)

Given my summer workload: closing & reconciling, FYE reporting, NAIS survey, annual report, rollover of all student/parent data in RE, plus all the special “summer projects” that my department has lined up, I'm not convinced that participating in VSE is worth my time/effort.

I'm familiar with what is involved with pulling the data, but if we aren't using the results I don't want to do work for the sake of doing work.

Please share your thoughts and opinions on participation! Thanks!

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  • Judy Spigarelli
    Judy Spigarelli Blackbaud Employee
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    We are not participating, but I'm not sure how familiar my school is with the VSE survey. I used to complete the minimum survey when I worked in Higher Ed. Truth is, I don't think we did much with the information there, so I'm not too likely to recommend it here. I look forward to hearing what others think.

  • Christine Cooke 2
    Christine Cooke 2
    Ancient Membership 1000 Comments 500 Likes Name Dropper

    I would check with your department head with this question. They and the gifts officers are the ones, in my experience, that are more involved with CASE and all things related.

    I am asked to fill it out every year for both surveys, and another one that is regional.

    As with any data – the survey results that are reported out to all of us is only as good as the number of participants. If we as k-12 do not participate, then the survey results would be skewed for all…. just something to consider.

    Besides you've got time for those surveys - none of them are due until September/October. If you're in a school your year should be closed by then. And you really cannot do the surveys until the year is closed.

  • Beth Green
    Beth Green
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    My first couple years at my current organization we did fill out the VSE, but if I remember correctly, they started charging for the “book” of data (which we and other schools supplied). Since we were already doing NAIS, and now INDEX, we have not participated in VSE for several years. And yes, it is a crazy, busy time of year and we have to decide what we gain from the most.

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