Overview
The first year of membership is critical in determining a cooperator’s long-term engagement and loyalty. Yet many cooperatives miss the opportunity to actively listen during this important phase. A New Member Onboarding Survey allows cooperatives to assess how well new members are welcomed, informed, and integrated—giving valuable insights to refine the onboarding process and build stronger member connections from day one.
This best practice outlines how to design and deploy a New Member Survey to turn new members into lifelong engaged owners.
Core Tactics:
- Survey New Members Within the First 90–120 Days.
Timing is critical: survey members while their onboarding experience is fresh but after they have had some time to engage. Recommended window: 90 to 120 days after enrollment. - Focus the Survey on Key Early Experiences.
Core topics to explore:- How clearly the cooperative’s mission, structure, and benefits were explained
- Ease of account setup or service access
- Opportunities to connect with staff, events, or community initiatives
- Perceived barriers to engagement
- Suggestions for improving the welcome process
- Use the Principle 6 New Member Survey Template.
Principle 6 offers a prebuilt onboarding survey template that:- Focuses on first impressions and early member satisfaction
- Allows benchmarking with other cooperatives globally
- Keeps the survey under 5 minutes for easy completion
Sample Key New Member Survey Questions:
| Category | Example Question | Proposed Answer Format |
| Welcome Process | I felt welcomed and valued as a new member. | 5-point Likert Scale |
| Mission Understanding | I understand the mission and purpose of the cooperative. | 5-point Likert Scale |
| Information Access | I was able to easily access information about my membership and benefits. | 5-point Likert Scale |
| Engagement Opportunities | I am aware of ways to get involved beyond using services or products. | Yes/No |
| Staff/Member Contact | I had an opportunity to interact with staff or other members. | Yes/No |
| Early Challenges | What barriers, if any, did you experience in engaging with the cooperative? | Open-ended |
| Satisfaction with Onboarding | Overall, how satisfied are you with your onboarding experience? | 5-point Likert Scale |
| Suggestions | What could we have done to make your first experience better? | Open-ended |
Download Survey Questions (Google Sheet)
- Promote Completion with Friendly Language.
Frame the survey invitation as part of the welcome journey, emphasizing that the cooperative values their voice from the start. - Analyze Early Engagement Trends.
Use onboarding survey results to:- Refine welcome materials and first communication campaigns
- Improve staff training around member engagement
- Adjust early engagement programs or events
- Link to Annual Engagement Surveys.
If possible, link longitudinal insights between onboarding survey results and later engagement surveys to track trends over time.