2015 U.S. Trans Survey
Challenge
As anyone who works in policy advocacy knows, Data Is King. My former colleagues at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) launched a groundbreaking national survey of transgender and gender nonconforming people in 2008, the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS), which was the first of its kind. This survey was a game changer in many ways and made it possible to advocate for policy change with hard numbers.
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey was a follow-up to the 2008-2009 NTDS and “provides much-needed information to help the public understand the lives and experiences of transgender people in the United States and the disparities that many transgender people face” (US Trans Survey website). It is the largest survey ever devoted to the lives and experiences of transgender people. As such, our team encountered several different challenges during the course of this project, including:
- Raising awareness in the trans and gender nonconforming community about why taking a survey is so important
- Figuring out ways to reach a truly diverse population sample and developing inclusive marketing & communications strategies
- Communicating the results of the survey to a wide range of people (policymakers, the general public, people who are LGBTQ identified, etc)
Recommendations
During the buildup to the survey launch, I wanted to ensure our team had a way to build a list of people who were interested in taking the survey and keep those people engaged along the way. The goal of the pre-launch phase was to collect as many email addresses as possible. I designed an automated digital marketing system centered around a microsite that encouraged people to sign up to be notified when the survey was open. Once people signed up for this “waiting list” they received an autoresponder series and were redirected to a thank you page that encouraged them to share graphics on social media with their networks. Our team came up with numerous creative ideas to get people to sign up for this waiting list, including designing a pledge card where people could pledge to either take the survey when it was available or spread the word to their networks. We also built a traveling photo booth that we took to various LGBTQ conferences across the country where people could take photos with signs that indicated whether they were pledging to take the survey or spread the word about the survey. I also was responsible for developing the brand identity guidelines for the survey.
Results and Insights
- Our team tripled the number of respondents from the 2008 NTDS survey with 27,000+ people taking the survey.
- Nearly 15,000 people signed up for the “waiting list” which resulted in our server crashing when people were notified that the survey was open. While we had worked with our IT consultants to try and prevent a server crash from happening, no one could have ever anticipated this type of demand, and it was a “good” type of problem to have.
- The mix of media coverage, innovative offline strategies (traveling photo booth), ad placements on “nontraditional” digital platforms like Grindr, and the automated digital communications system resulted in a comprehensive campaign and diverse respondent pool.
Work Samples
Microsite
Social Media Share Graphic
USTS Awareness Week Graphic
USTS Pledge Card
Read more about this project:
“Beyond Bathrooms: Inside the Largest Ever Survey of Transgender People in America” (TIME Magazine)
“Report Highlights Experiences of Black Transgender People in US” (NBC News)
Challenge
As anyone who works in policy advocacy knows, Data is king. My former colleagues at the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) launched a groundbreaking national survey of transgender and gender nonconforming people in 2008, the National Transgender Discrimination Survey (NTDS), which was the first of its kind. This survey was a game changer in many ways and made it possible to advocate for policy change with hard numbers.
The 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey was a follow-up to the 2008-2009 NTDS and “provides much-needed information to help the public understand the lives and experiences of transgender people in the United States and the disparities that many transgender people face” (US Trans Survey website). It is the largest survey ever devoted to the lives and experiences of transgender people. As such, our team encountered several different challenges during the course of this project, including:
Raising awareness in the trans and gender nonconforming community about why taking a survey is so important
Figuring out ways to reach a truly diverse population sample and developing inclusive marketing & communications strategies
Communicating the results of the survey to a wide range of people (policymakers, the general public, people who are LGBTQ identified, etc)
Recommendations
During the buildup to the survey launch, I wanted to ensure our team had a way to build a list of people who were interested in taking the survey and keep those people engaged along the way. The goal of the pre-launch phase was to collect as many email addresses as possible. I designed an automated digital marketing system centered around a microsite that encouraged people to sign up to be notified when the survey was open. Once people signed up for this “waiting list” they received an autoresponder series and were redirected to a thank you page that encouraged them to share graphics on social media with their networks. Our team came up with numerous creative ideas to get people to sign up for this waiting list, including designing a pledge card where people could pledge to either take the survey when it was available or spread the word to their networks. We also built a traveling photo booth that we took to various LGBTQ conferences across the country where people could take photos with signs that indicated whether they were pledging to take the survey or spread the word about the survey. I also was responsible for developing the brand identity guidelines for the survey.
Results and Insights
- Our team tripled the number of respondents from the 2008 NTDS survey with 27,000+ people taking the survey.
- Nearly 15,000 people signed up for the “waiting list” which resulted in our server crashing when people were notified that the survey was open. While we had worked with our IT consultants to try and prevent a server crash from happening, no one could have ever anticipated this type of demand, and it was a “good” type of problem to have.
- The mix of media coverage, innovative offline strategies (traveling photo booth), ad placements on “nontraditional” digital platforms like Grindr, and the automated digital communications system resulted in a comprehensive campaign and diverse respondent pool.
Work Samples
Microsite
Social Media Share Graphic
USTS Awareness Week Graphic
USTS Pledge Card
Read more about this project:
“Beyond Bathrooms: Inside the Largest Ever Survey of Transgender People in America” (TIME Magazine)
“Report Highlights Experiences of Black Transgender People in US” (NBC News)