MSTA Enhances Educator Engagement with Zonka Feedback

What do you do when the feedback platform your organization relies on becomes a costly hurdle, limiting your ability to gather crucial insights from your community? For Todd Fuller, Marketing and Communications Director at the Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA), this was more than a minor inconvenience—it became a barrier to advocating effectively for Missouri's 47,000 educators.

Founded in 1856, MSTA plays a vital role in shaping education policy and supporting teachers throughout Missouri. As a nonprofit, MSTA relies on capturing member feedback to stay attuned to educators' challenges and needs. This data-driven approach ensures their advocacy aligns with the teaching community’s evolving demands.

MSTA had long used Qualtrics to gather feedback from its members. Todd knew how vital member insights were for shaping education policy and guiding their advocacy efforts. But as costs associated with Qualtrics grew and response limits became more restrictive, it became clear that their existing tool wasn’t viable.

In our conversation with Todd, he highlighted the major challenges they faced while using Qualtrics:

• Prohibitive Costs: As a nonprofit, MSTA struggled to justify the high price of Qualtrics, which limited their ability to run surveys year-round. This financial burden made it difficult to maintain continuous feedback efforts.
• Survey Limitations: Annual surveys with thousands of responses quickly ate up their feedback capacity, leaving little room for additional surveys throughout the year. This constraint left them with an incomplete view of educator needs.
• Lack of Flexibility: Qualtrics lacked the adaptability MSTA needed for varied survey types, from quick pulse checks to in-depth studies. Without real-time, actionable insights, they struggled to respond promptly to their members' feedback.

Without a more scalable, cost-effective, and flexible solution, MSTA knew they risked compromising their ability to truly understand the needs of their members. As these challenges intensified, the urgency to find a more sustainable solution that would allow them to collect feedback without sacrificing budget or data quality became even more critical.

That’s when MSTA discovered Zonka Feedback. What followed was a seamless transition that empowered Todd and his team to gather feedback more efficiently, expanding their ability to connect with educators across Missouri. Let’s explore the complete story of how MSTA transformed their feedback approach with Zonka Feedback, driving greater engagement and advocacy.

Facing the need for a scalable and efficient feedback system, MSTA turned to Zonka Feedback, marking a crucial shift in their approach to gathering member insights. Free from the constraints of high costs and response limits, Todd and his team found themselves equipped with a flexible platform that could accommodate their extensive feedback requirements.

1. Seamless Transition from Qualtrics

MSTA’s shift to Zonka Feedback went beyond just changing platforms—it was about finding a solution that matched their unique needs as a nonprofit.

This decision empowered MSTA to handle large-scale surveys without sacrificing budget or functionality, allowing them to continue their advocacy work without the financial strain of their previous tool.

2. Customization and Survey Flexibility

Once MSTA adopted Zonka Feedback, they quickly unlocked its potential to deliver a wide range of custom surveys. From post-event feedback for Leadership Conferences to insights from Capitol Visits and broader surveys like the Virtual New Teacher Summit Survey, Zonka Feedback’s flexibility enabled MSTA to create surveys suited to every need.

This adaptability ensured that each survey, from quick pulse checks to in-depth evaluations, delivered actionable feedback, helping MSTA stay closely connected to the needs of Missouri’s educators.

3. Real-Time Monitoring and Multi-User Access

With their custom surveys in place, MSTA next needed a way to manage feedback more collaboratively and efficiently. Zonka Feedback's real-time monitoring and multi-user admin access provided just the solution they were looking for. Now, multiple team members could access surveys, monitor incoming feedback, and ensure that insights were acted upon promptly.

Todd highlighted the impact of this feature as:

This enabled MSTA to stay responsive, especially during high-priority surveys like their salary survey, ensuring that time-sensitive concerns were addressed quickly and proactively.

4. Large-Scale Feedback Collection and Public Engagement

One of the most impactful implementations was MSTA’s use of Zonka Feedback for their 2024 Annual Member Survey. This survey gathered key insights from thousands of educators, providing a comprehensive view of education in Missouri, which directly informed their advocacy efforts and helped shape their strategic priorities for the future.
Zonka Feedback’s flexibility allowed MSTA to conduct both quick pulse surveys and large-scale collections throughout the year, overcoming the limitations they faced with Qualtrics. 

These insights shaped internal strategies and supported advocacy efforts, strengthening MSTA’s role in Missouri’s education landscape.

5. Cost Effective Enterprise Solution

All of these improvements came at a fraction of the previous costs. By moving away from the expensive constraints of Qualtrics, MSTA gained a scalable, powerful platform that fit comfortably within their nonprofit budget. Zonka Feedback provided the ideal balance of affordability and functionality, allowing MSTA to gather continuous feedback without restrictions and run surveys year-round—meeting their needs without sacrificing quality.

For MSTA, transitioning to Zonka Feedback was a game-changer, allowing them to overcome previous challenges and enhance their connection with Missouri's educators. The shift not only resolved immediate issues but also transformed their entire approach to feedback management, bringing about significant improvements in engagement, efficiency, and advocacy efforts.

• Amplified Feedback Collection: With Zonka Feedback, MSTA captured over 3,500 responses without the constraints of response limits. This new flexibility meant every survey, whether large-scale or quick pulse, could be executed without worrying about costs or capacity, ensuring that educators’ voices were consistently heard and valued.
• Increased Response Rate: The use of Zonka Feedback's email distribution channel yielded a remarkable 94% response rate, reflecting enhanced member engagement and a more effective feedback loop as reaching educators, administrators, and staff became not just easier, but incredibly effective.
• Seamless Survey Creation: Setting up surveys with Zonka Feedback became significantly faster, allowing MSTA to deploy tailored surveys in record time. Whether for post-event feedback or large-scale outreach, surveys were launched efficiently, without the need for extensive resources or time.

Additionally, freed from the high costs of Qualtrics, MSTA could now keep a pulse on Missouri’s educators year-round. With real-time monitoring and multi-user access, teams collaborated easily to stay informed and respond to feedback in real-time. MSTA also integrated with business tools like Google sheets to transform raw data into actionable insights. This helped the organization track important trends in education and adjust their strategies quickly, ensuring they remained aligned with Missouri educators' evolving challenges.

Looking ahead, MSTA now has a reliable feedback system that empowers them to continuously gather insights, refine their approach, and stay aligned with the evolving needs of Missouri’s educators. With Zonka Feedback, they’ve found a solution that’s both scalable and adaptable, ensuring a bright future for their advocacy efforts.

Ready to transform your feedback collection just like MSTA? Sign up for a free trial today or schedule a demo and start unlocking deeper insights to build stronger connections with your community!