2014 Member Survey Report
The 2014 Member Benefits Survey was launched on October 14 after being vetted and edited by all departments. The link to it was included in several communications including our newsletter, Online Workshop announcements, the Yoga Insider publication and our Conference messaging. The survey was officially closed on November 17th and a total of 337 participants submitted their responses.
The survey consisted of the following questions:
- What is your email?
- Which of the following describes your role in the yoga community? (Check all that apply)
- Part-time yoga teacher
- Full-time yoga teacher
- Studio owner/manager
- RYS owner/manager
- Lead Trainer for a RYS
- N/A
- Please rate the value of the following programs:
- RYT Credential
- RYS Credential
- Yoga Alliance’s Directory Profile
- Online Workshops (including recordings)
- 2013 Business of Yoga Conference (including articles/recordings)
- Advocacy Efforts
- Newsletters
- Member Perks
- Yoga Alliance Foundation’s scholarship program
- If Yoga Alliance leadership came to your city/town, would you participate in a community meet-up?
- Do you have any comments for Yoga Alliance about our member benefits programs?
- May Yoga Alliance contact you about your feedback?
For the purposes of this report, only questions two through five will be analyzed and extrapolated.
Our Members
According to the data collected, almost two-thirds of all participants considered themselves to be part-time yoga teachers (which was defined as “yoga is not my primary source of income”). However, for 30% of teachers, yoga is their primary source of income. This data is higher than anticipated, but also explains why some of our business of yoga offerings like “The Science of the Private Yoga Class” and “Focus and Flow: Attention Management” were so popular.
Full data on this question is provided below:
Noticeably, there wasn’t much representation from RYSs in this survey, though considering the difference in membership between RYTs and RYSs, this could be expected.
Our Programs
As expected, the Member Perks and Credentials were our highest rated. However, there were some surprises in the program ratings data this year. Our bottom three programs (starting with the lowest rating) were the 2013 Business of Yoga resources, followed by the directory profile and the scholarship program.
The directory’s low rating was not too surprising due to the search and usability issues that it had this past year. We expect this rating to go up considerably after next year’s enhancements are implemented.
As for the business of yoga resources, one might infer that the reason they were not as popular is because of the topics from last year’s conference. Of the topics released, many had a focus (or perhaps an assumed focus) on studios and schools rather than teachers or general business. We’ve heard feedback before that some people assume the business of yoga is only for studios and schools.
The scholarship program’s low rating may have taken into account two common thoughts in the yoga community: 1) there is a surplus of teachers already and/or 2) many people were not eligible for the scholarships because they didn’t meet our rigorous requirements.
Full data for each rating can be seen below:
Our Community
When asked if they would participate in an event in their community if Yoga Alliance Leadership was in attendance, an overwhelming majority of participants said yes. Of the 311 that responded, over 94% answered “Yes.”
This bodes well for our continued push for community meet-ups and Andrew’s proposed “YA Roadshow” for 2015. By meeting with our board and staff, members can begin to create personal connections so Yoga Alliance becomes less of an amorphous, anonymous institution and more of a friendly association ready to help them spread the power of yoga.
Our Suggestions
Only about half of participants responded to the question soliciting comments and feedback. Of the 155 responses collected, these were the most frequent words used:
After a more thorough investigation of the responses, it seemed there were four major themes:
- “Thank you” and other general praise about our recent efforts
- Having more perks and increasing accessibility for international members
- Critiques of our standards/credentialing system
- Comments about our directory/website
Of the three actionable pieces of feedback, two of them are high priority focuses for us which should bode well for us as our scheduled changes come down the pike. All comments are also attached.