Some respondents may regard a survey as a form of spam. Your e-mail should state the nature and purpose of the survey as quickly, succinctly, and courteously as possible. Assure respondents of privacy, and guarantee that you won't cite anyone by name or organization without permission. If you're soliciting comments as well as statistics, ask respondents to indicate whether or not they may be quoted, and how they should be cited. Like interview questions, survey questions should be short, clear, well-organized, and limited in number.
Respondents are also more likely to answer a short questionnaire than a long one.
If you have a large number of addressees, send the survey in several batches rather than all at once. When you mail your survey, several may bounce back immediately as undeliverable. Keep track of these bounces so that you know exactly how many surveys went out. This will enable you to calculate the correct percentage of responses. For example, if you send out 100 surveys, get ten back as undeliverable, and receive fifty responses, you have a 55 percent response rate.