Will my residents' privacy be kept safe? 

Privacy is a core foundation to Polco’s processes and mission. This commitment to privacy applies to both clients and survey respondents. Our benchmarks allow cities to compare results with each other across the nation, without distributing individual reports. Respondent opinions and any information they share is secure and private. We report all survey and poll data in group form only. We never share or sell personally identifiable information with customers or third parties. Polco’s privacy policy ensures that no one - no public official, customer, partner or anyone else - will ever see individually identifiable information linked to responses.  

How can I be certain my survey results actually represent my community? 

Polco benchmark comparison surveys use scientific methods that yield results which accurately reflect the community.

For online surveys that are open to all, Polco’s verification technology guarantees you hear from real residents. Verification compares resident information against public records (such as voter files). Verified resident information is kept private.

How can my local government use resident engagement when we don't have the time or resources? 

Polco saves time by doing all the heavy lifting for you. For benchmark surveys, our researchers conduct the assessment for you. Experts provide the survey questions, send out mailers, analyze results, create a report, and can even present your results to council. The Polco community engagement platform also offers a library of pre-built surveys that you can use at your convenience. Polco also streamlines your engagement program by serving all your resident input and community data needs in one place. This is a great way to save time and money.

Who is Polco? 

Polco was designed from inception for civic environments by former public servants. Our founders spent time at some of the world’s leading tech companies, such as Google and Amazon, the White House, and in local government. Polco employees encompass the best minds in government technology, civic analytics, and community engagement. Our highly skilled social science analysts perform a full range of quality research and evaluation services to help decision-makers understand the perspectives of their residents, employees, and clients.  Polco has 30 years experience serving local governments.  

National Research Center (NRC) at Polco is our proprietary data science laboratory. NRC designs all of Polco’s surveys and are the brains behind our scientific methods. NRC also established our national benchmarking database, which reports community insights on livability from more than 30 million Americans nationwide. This is the largest database of its kind in the US. 

Polco is also proud to welcome Balancing Act, maker of simulation-based public engagement tools for budgeting, housing, climate, and planning. Balancing Act specializes in engagement-driven strategies and public policy leadership development. The simulation tools help local governments communicate the complexities and trade-offs they make while developing the budget.

Hundreds of organizations nationwide work with the Polco team and our resident engagement platform for strategic planning, budgeting, increasing civic participation, and empowering resident voices.