Thank you for Responding to our Survey!

Recently, we sent out a quick 3-question survey to our donors and volunteers asking a few questions to help us improve our organization.

We were thrilled at the number and quality of responses. Thank you to everybody who took the time to give us some feedback! (If you haven’t yet participated, the survey will be open for responses through September 30, 2024.)

Here are the results:

Aside from Write Around, what other organizations or causes do you donate to? Which organizations do the best job sharing the significance and impact of your gifts?

OPB (6 votes)
Blanchet House (3 votes)
Oregon Humane Society (3 votes)
Doctors Without Borders (2 votes)
Growing Gardens (2 votes)
Planned Parenthood (2 votes)
Sisters of the Road (2 votes)
X-Ray.FM (2 votes)

Other organizations mentioned were 1000 Friends of Oregon, American Indian College Fund, Amnesty International, Brown Hope, The Carter Center, Cat Adoption Team, Child Trauma Research Program, Crag Law Center, DEAF C.A.N., DoveLewis, Elevate Oregon, English Springer Rescue America, Equal Justice Initiative, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, Friends of the Carpenter, Friends of the Children, Habitat for Humanity, Hacienda CDC, Hopewell House, Innocence Project, International Rescue Committee, Lewis Latimer House Museum, Literary Arts, Meals on Wheels, Mercy Corps, Mutual Aid, NAACP, NAMI Multnomah, NaNoWriMO, Nature Conservancy, Neighborhood House, OHSU, OK You, One Sky for All Children, Oregon Food Bank, Oregon Historical Society, Oregon Zoo, Oxfam, Portland Art Museum, Portland Opera, Portland Parks Foundation, Portland Street Medicine, Pro Publica, Rahab’s Sisters, Raphael House, ReBuilding Center, Save the Children, Sempervirens Fund, The Sentencing Project, Smithsonian Institution, St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital, Street Books, Taking Ownership PDX, Tigard United Methodist Church, Torch Literary Arts, White Bird, Wild Diversity, Willamette Riverkeeper

What do you tell others about Write Around Portland? How do you describe us?

General themes include:

Scrappy, small organization
Empowers the disenfranchised
Gives a voice and platform for expression
Affirming people
Creative writing for everyone
Facilitator training is excellent
Helping people tell their stories
Treat volunteers with respect ad appreciation
Nurturing healing and dignity
Connecting people to grow and heal
Great place to write!

The Fun Questions

We also offered folks the option of answering some demographic questions to help us better understand our community. Here are a couple of the “fun” questions below — and note that this is aggregated data from last year as well!

What is your favorite local bookseller?

Powell’s Books (33%)
Broadway Books (27%)
Annie Bloom’s Books (15%)
Bloomsbury Books and Green Been Books (5%)
Mother Foucault’s Bookshop (4%)

Other bookstore mentions: Arches Bookhouse, Belmont Books, Birdhouse Books, Spoke N Words, Third Eye Bag, Two Rivers Bookstore, Wallace Books

How many books, on average, do you read each year?

Less than 5 books: 6%
5-10 books: 21%
11-15 books: 17%
16-20 books: 23%
21-30 books: 8%
31-40 books: 8%
41-50 books: 12%
More than 50 books: 6%

How much would you say you spend on books each year, on average?

Less than $50: 4%
$50-$99: 13%
$100-$199: 24%
$200-$299: 24%
$300-$399: 11%
$400-$499: 7%
$500-$599: 4%
More than $600: 13%

Many survey respondents said that they tend to pick up books from the library as their main source of book procurement. We love our local libraries, too!