Every year we collect Census data to track our membership and also see how we’re progressing in the key areas of our Skills for Life plan. HQ are currently testing the system to make sure it’s ready for the end of the month.
To help you prepare here’s a few things you might need to know:
- The snapshot of your data should be taken on 31st January 2020, and entered online.
- They’ve made a few tweaks to some existing questions like gift aid, gender and disabilities which included the options ‘prefer not to say’ and ‘prefer to self-describe.’
- They’ve added a small number of extra questions just to help get a better idea of local recruitment and governance.
- They’ve contacted OSM so they can also prepare for the changes.
Now would be a good time to get your Sections to ensure they have all the relevant data for the members of their Section, particularly if they have any new starters this term.
If you use OSM, there is the Census tool in there which generates all the figures needed, as long as the information is already in the members personal details. So this would be a good opportunity to to check it is up to date.
