2013 Rynearson Award: NHS & NJHS National Adviser of the Year
A report on results of the survey of NHS and NJHS advisers in the spring of 2012
Note: [Q#] references indicate survey question numbers from the original 34-question survey. Specific results for each question in the survey can be found in the full survey report that follows.
This year, 1,372 NHS and NJHS advisers responded to the annual E-Survey. Started in 2002, the 2012 survey represents the eleventh year of the survey and was provided through the online site “Survey Monkey” to advisers in late spring (April 1 – June 30). Total respondents increased 5.46% over 2011. Once again the results provide the national staff with important insights about the Honor Societies as they are currently operating in schools.
The total number of respondents represents 5.78% of the 23,737 chapters of NHS and NJHS reported as active on June 30, 2012 [Q1]. Chapters in every state and overseas are represented in the results, although NJHS responses originate from only 40 states.
Adviser demographics: 75.4% percent of the respondents were NHS advisers; 24.6% from NJHS compared to the 68/32 split among the general membership [Q3]. 25.4% were advisers completing their first year as adviser. 62.4% had five or fewer years of advising experience. Average experience of participants was 6.44 years. In addition, 84.5% of respondents were female [Q4].
Adviser compensation [Q6]: The average compensation (pay) recorded among the respondents was $503.27 per year (down 2% from FY11). 39.7% of advisers responded indicating they receive no pay for their work as chapter advisers. Of those receiving some pay for their role as advisers, the average compensation was $854.46 which translates to less than $100.00 per month during the school year. Only 19.4% of respondents indicated receiving $1,000 or more per year for their work.
Service projects [Q13-Q18]: The average number of hours spent on chapter service projects as completed by the chapters responding was a little more than 940 hours per chapter [Q13], based on the total hours reported being 1,174,706. Using the value per hour of service promoted by Independent Sector for 2011 ($21.79), this is equal to more than $25 million in service rendered ($25,596,843); at federal minimum wage ($7.25) this translates to a value of $8,516,628.50 or more than $6,800 ($6,822) per chapter of service value this year.
Chapters were also asked how much money was raised this past year for charitable giving [Q14]. From the 825 chapters responding to this question, a total of $1,368,425 was raised with the average collected being $1,658 per chapter (up 5% from 2011). Using the average chapter size reported (56.86 members) this translates into individual chapter member contributions exceeding $29 per person ($29.16). It should be noted that 60.13% of responding chapters indicated collecting funds for charity. Using these average figures we can project that chapters nationwide donated more than $23 million ($23,613,567) in cash this past year to charitable fundraisers (excluding the value of their service hours noted above).
Combining the per-chapter service value ($6,822) with the average charitable donation ($1,658) yields an annual average minimum contribution $8,480 per chapter to the school or community (or both). Other benefits (blood donations, food donations, clothing drives, tutoring, etc.) would add to this value as additional factor supporting the importance of maintaining an active Honor Society chapter at school.
Benefits ratings [Qs 21-23]: One purpose of the survey is to find out how advisers feel about the benefits and services provided by NASSP. This year, the overall satisfaction rate increased slightly by 1.5 points, with 95.8% indicating that they were ‘very satisfied’ or ‘satisfied’ with the services received (compared with 94.3% in 2011). Those benefits/services that received the highest ratings (based on the totals found in the top-rating category) were as follows (in order of value):
- National website
- The annual catalog
- Leadership for Student Activities magazine
- The Adviser Updates (fall and spring online resource)
- Honor Society News
Customer service ratings: Among those advisers who indicated that they contacted the national office during the past year (63.9% of respondents), 93.6% rated their customer service experiences as being either “excellent” or “good,” up 1.3 percentage points (1.4 %) from last year [Q25-27]. A large number provided important evaluative comments on existing services [Q28], and they also offered many suggestions (354 or 25.8% of total respondents) for new products and services [Q29] which are being shared with NASSP sales and marketing staff.
Some additional notes:
*418 topics suggestions for Leadership for Student Activities magazine and Honor Society News were submitted
*85% indicated they are receiving our electronic newsletters (up from 76.3% in 2011)
*212 chapters reported conducting blood drives with a total of more than 19,000 pints collected; an average of 91.6 pints per chapter. Extrapolating this data as a percentage of the national membership (15.5% or 2,507 NHS chapters) yields collection potential of 229,675 pints on a yearly basis.
*391 chapters (28.5% of the survey respondents) reported conducting food drives, collecting a total of more than 434,000 pounds of food (434,248). The average chapter collection was 1,111 pounds. Using our average chapter size (56 members) this translates into nearly 20 pounds per member. Using these figures as indicators of the national potential; chapters could have collected more than 7.5 million pounds of food in FY12.
*When asked whether they invested in education through tutoring or other educational support service, 68.66% of responding chapters indicated they were engaged in this type of activity. A detailed report of their projects will be forthcoming.
Many thanks to the 1,372 advisers who took the time to respond to this year’s E-survey. The content provided through these instruments is invaluable to NHS national staff.