SPOTLIGHT SURVEY RESULTS - EXTENDED VERSION
Thank you for responding to our newsletter survey! Your answers were very informative and truly food for newsletter thought. You’ve inspired me with good ideas for the future direction of the Spotlight.

BIG PICTURE

Every quarter, we mail the Spotlight to all 54,000 retired members. The March issue included a newsletter survey to which 12% of you responded. Of those who responded, 94% mailed back the survey postcard; the others took the survey on lacera.com. We also surveyed our 104,000 active members who receive the PostScript newsletter. Interestingly enough, their survey response rate was 1.7% with 66% returning the postcard and 34% took the survey online.

SPOTLIGHT SURVEY RESULTS HIGHLIGHTS

Do you find the written content informative, clearly written and easy to understand?

Combined (postcard & online survey) Response:
       65% Always

Is the overall look of the newsletter professional and attractive?

Combined Response:
      83% Always

QUOTES

• “Enjoy reading... thank you for reassuring me my pension is safe”
• “Outstanding & informative newsletter”
• “Excellent!”
• “I read the newsletter from cover-to-cover”
• “Newsletter is a psychological support”
• “Wonderful, thanks for taking good care of us”
• “I live overseas; the newsletter is a great connection for me”

Based on suggestions in the newsletter, have you visited a specific area in lacera.com?

Combined Response:
    40% Yes

Based on suggestions in the newsletter, have you followed a link to the Staying Healthy Together section online?

Combined Response:
  37% Yes

How many newsletters should we produce a year?

Combined Response:
               77%  4x a Year

If you had a choice, which would you pick?

	Printed Newsletter	Electronic Newsletter	Both
Combined Response	65%	13%	23%

 

 

 

 

QUOTES

• “I prefer print and keep them for future reference”
• "We don't have a computer so we really need this newsletter"
• “Use cheaper paper”
• "I like printed, my spouse likes electronic"
• “6-12 newsletters a year, please”
• "Save trees!"
• “When there are 2 retirees at the same address, send only one newsletter”
• "I'd be interested in an electronic version"

ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER

I found it interesting and also a sign of our electronically-rich time that members who responded online had different feedback than those who completed the survey by mail. LACERA’s Communications Division looks forward to developing an online newsletter presence that suits our members’ needs in word, look, and electronic delivery option.

One of the things on the to-do list for the My LACERA section of lacera.com is the creation of a Member Message Center. This message center will be a place where we can communicate with you. It will serve as an electronic hub where we will be able to send you an email and a link to the newsletter and other information online. Register on My LACERA now to access your personal retirement information and other new service options online.

68% of Retirees have online access

MISC COMMENTS

• Some of you loved the cross word puzzle; others thought it was not needed. We compromised; we'll create a half-page puzzle.
• You had strong opinions on the COLA article. Some of you definitely did not like it - confusing, lengthy, missing COLA Accumulation info; others thought it was a great article. Next COLA article, we will include the COLA Accumulation chart and do our best to simplify the information. It's a complex topic.

FUNNY QUOTES

• "Don't get rid of the printed newspaper. I can read between the lines."
• “Put CEO picture and name on front page” (I think our CEO submitted that on his survey response.)
• "Insert $100 bills
• “Many retirees lost their spouses, print a dating service”
• "Thanks for keeping us current - I'm sure the parts of the newsletter that I skip are meaningful to others"

FYI: COMMUNICATIONS DIVISION

LACERA’s two quarterly newsletters are researched, written, and designed in-house by a great team of creative professionals in the Communications Division. Our mission is to communicate essential retirement information to our members through a variety of media in an accurate, clear, attractive, and timely manner. Our standards include professional excellence in work and deed, along with applying contemporary advertising and marketing practices to our graphics and writing, in print and online. Our work is always produced with “good value” budgetary considerations.

RESULTS YOU CAN SEE

You hold the results of the newsletter survey within your hands (unless you are reading this online.) We reduced the newsletter paper quality and cost - again, and added print and phone options throughout the newsletter, in addition to the online suggestions for forms, help and information.

Thank you again for your input and suggestions. I read all of your comments and am happy to announce you like the newsletter. We will add more of your good ideas as we go forward.

-Ms. Smart, Director of Communications

10/13/09