EDA Customer Satisfaction Applicant Survey

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

General Information

Welcome to the 2020 Customer Satisfaction Survey for EDA Applicants!
The objective of this survey is to gather feedback on your experience and satisfaction related to applying
for an EDA grant* and launching a project. If you have any questions or concerns, please email
[email protected].
Your feedback will help us improve customer service to better serve you and communities and/or
organizations like yours!
*For the purposes of this survey, the terms "award", "grant", and "cooperative agreement" are used interchangeably.

Please indicate the fiscal year of your application (check all that apply):
FY 2019
FY 2018

* Which competition(s) did you apply for? (Check all that apply)
Economic Development Assistance Programs (EDAP)*
This includes applications for Economic Adjustment Assistance or Public Works and Assistance to Coal Communities (ACC)
EDA Planning Program and Local Technical Assistance Program
Regional Innovation Strategies Program
EDA University Center Economic Development Program
Fiscal Year 2018 Disaster Supplemental (eligible grantees in communities impacted by natural disasters in 2017)
Fiscal Year 2019 Disaster Supplemental (communities impacted by natural disasters in 2018 and Floods and Tornadoes in
2019.)

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During the course of your application, do you recall which EDA staff you worked with the most; if
yes, please check below:
Economic Development Representative
Regional Director
Headquarters Staff
Area Director
No, I do not recall
Other EDA staff (please identify by name or function)

How did your organization learn about EDA?
Internet resources (eg., EDA website, grants.gov, etc)
Interaction with EDA staff
Members of the United States Congress or their staff
State, Local or Tribal Government
EDA-funded Economic Development District
Other (Please Specify.)

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Proposal-specific questions

* When applying for an EDAP grant, did you take advantage of the proposal stage?
Yes
No

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Proposal Stage Questions

Did you contact EDA staff prior to submitting your proposal?
Yes
No

During the proposal stage, approximately how long did it take to receive your first communication
(e.g., e-mail, call) from EDA? Please note: this does not include the automated submission confirmation.
5 business days or less
10 business days or less
20-22 business days (one month) or less
Over one month but less than three months
Three months or more
N/A, did not receive a communication from EDA

Approximately, how much time were you given to submit the full applicationafter the proposal?
5 business days or less
10 business days or less
20-22 business days (one month) or less
Over one month but less than three months
Three months or more
Do not recall

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* What was your experience with EDA staff during the course of yourproposal submission:
Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

EDA staff responded in a
timely manner when
I reached out about my
proposal.
EDA staff
accommodated my
circumstances and
requests regarding my
proposal submission
EDA staff were
responsive and helpful
during the course of the
proposal stage.
EDA staff provided me
with accurate and clear
information.
EDA staff provided me
with a reasonable
amount of time to
respond to
inquiries/resolve issues
with my proposal.

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Application Submission/Staff

Did you contact EDA staff prior to submitting your most recent application?
Yes
No

* What was your experience with EDA staff during the course of your application submission:
Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

EDA staff responded in a
timely manner when I
reached out about my
application.
EDA staff accommodated
my circumstances and
requests.
EDA staff provided me with
a reasonable amount of
time to respond to
inquiries/resolve issues with
my application.
EDA staff provided me with
accurate and clear
information that was
consistent with information
on the Notification of
Funding
Announcement/Opportunity.
EDA staff were responsive
and helpful during the
course of my application

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Application Status

* Do you know the status of your application?
Yes
No

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Application Results Feedback

* Approximately how long after submitting your application did you receive your first communication

(e.g., email) from EDA? Please note that this does not include the automated submission confirmation.
5 business days or less
10 business days or less
20-22 business days (one month) or less
Over one month but less than three months
Three months or more
N/A, did not receive a communication

* From the time you submitted the application, approximately how long did it take to receive an award or

denial notification from EDA?
5 business days or less
10 business days or less
20-22 business days (one month) or less
Over one month but less than three months
Three months or more
N/A, application withdrawn

* Was your application successful?
Yes
No

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Application Results Feedback

* Please identify how satisfied or dissatisfied you were with the following elements related tofeedback on

your application:
Very satisfied

Satisfied

Dissatisfied

Very dissatisfied

N/A

Clarity of information
conveyed
Helpfulness
(usefulness) of
information conveyed
Timeliness of response

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Feedback on Kick-off Meeting

From when you received your award from EDA, how long was it (or has it been) until your projectkick-off
meeting?
5 business days or less
10 business days or less
20-22 business days (one month) or less
Over one months but less than three months
Three months or more
N/A, did not have a kick-off meeting

* Please identify how satisfied or dissatisfied you were with the following elements related to the kick-off

meeting:
Very satisfied

Satisfied

Dissatisfied

Very Dissatisfied

N/A

Clarity of information
conveyed
Helpfulness
(usefulness) of
information conveyed
Timeliness of kick-off
meeting

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Feedback on Launching Your Project

Since receiving an award from EDA, has your organization launched its project activities?
Yes
No

* How long did it take to launch project activities since receiving the grant? If not applicable, please

check "N/A."
5 business days or less
10 business days or less
20-22 business days (one month) or less
Over one month but less than three months
Three months or more
N/A

Apart from your kick-off meeting, did you contact EDA staff in order to start your project activities?
Yes
No

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* What was your experience with EDA staff during the course of launching your project activities:
Strongly Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

N/A

EDA staff responded to
me in a timely manner
when I had a question
about launching project
activities.
EDA staff
accommodated my
circumstances and
requests while launching
my project activities.
EDA staff provided me
with a reasonable
amount of time to
respond to
inquiries/resolve issues
with my award.
EDA staff provided me
with accurate and clear
information about
launching my project
activities.
EDA staff were
responsive and
helpful during the
course of launching my
project activities.

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Feedback on Resources

Did you take advantage of any of the following EDA resources toguide your application process?
(Check all that apply)
https://www.eda.gov/funding-opportunities/
https://www.eda.gov/about/investment-priorities/
https://www.eda.gov/programs/
https://www.eda.gov/tools/
https://www.eda.gov/performance/
N/A
Other (please specify)

Please rank the following elements in EDA resources in terms of theirusefulness to the application
process:
The information conveyed on funding opportunities on eda.gov

The information conveyed in application forms for EDA's funding.

The information as conveyed through EDA's funding opportunity documents (NOFOs/NOFAs)

The information in EDA's social media postings (e.g., LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook)

* The information on funding opportunities conveyed on eda.gov is:
Extremely Clear

Clear

Somewhat clear, needs
improvement

Unclear

Extremely Unclear

* The information (e.g., requirements) conveyed in application forms for EDA's funding is:
Extremely Clear

Clear

Somewhat Clear, needs
improvements

Unclear

Extremely Unclear

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* The information as conveyed through EDA's funding opportunity documents (NOFOs/NOFAs) is:
Extremely Clear

Clear

Somewhat clear, needs
improvement

Unclear

Extremely Unclear

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Overall Satisfaction

* How likely are you to apply to EDA for a grant in the future?
Will definitely apply
Likely to apply
Unsure
Not likely
Not at all likely

* Based on your overall application experience, how likely are you to recommend EDA to another

stakeholder or organization on a scale of 0 (extremely unlikely) to 10 (extremely likely) ?
0

10

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* Compared to your application experience with other federal grant-making agencies, please rate your

experience with EDA.
Much better

Better

About the same

Worse

Much worse

Clarity of requirements as
specified in the Notice of
Funding
Availability(NOFA)/Notice
of Funding Opportunity
(NOFO)
Clarity of requirements as
specified in the
application forms
Ease of application
process
Overall satisfaction with
application process
Subject matter expertise
of EDA staff
Timeliness and
accessibility of staff
Programs alignment with
my
community's/organizations
needs

* On a scale from 0 (fell short of my expectations) to 10 (exceeded my expectations), please rank your

experience with EDA's customer service:
0

10

* On a scale from 0 (not very close to the ideal) to 10 (very close to the ideal) please rank your overall

experience with EDA during the course of your grant:
0

10

Other comments (such as why you would or would not consider applying to EDA in the future, more
information about your interaction with EDA staff or how EDA compares in your experience to applying to
federal grant programs):

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What recommendations would your organization make to EDA to improve the application process?

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Demographic

Please identify what type of entity you represent:
EDA funded Economic Development District (EDD)
State government
Local government
Institution of higher education
American Indian Tribe (or consortium of tribes)/Alaska Native tribal entity
Other regional economic development organization
Non-profit organization
Other (please specify)

* Which type of geographic area does your organization primarily represent?
Rural
Urban
Regional (combination of urban and rural)

What source did you use to identify your region as above?
Census.gov
USDA ERS
Other source (please specify)

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Customer Satisfaction Survey 2020 (Applicant)

Contact Information

If EDA has follow-up questions about your survey responses, may wecontact you? (If so, fill in fields)
Name
Organization
Title
Street address
City/Town
State

-- select state --

ZIP Code
Email Address
Phone Number

Thank you so much for taking the time to complete this survey!
The responses you provided will permit EDA to improve its customer service and application process.

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