How to Send a Post-Reunion Survey

Ask while they still remember

Two days after the reunion, people remember everything. The food, the schedule, the moment the rain started, whether the hotel was worth the price. A week later, it all blurs into "it was fun."

If you want honest, useful feedback, you have a 48-hour window. Use it.

Keep it short

Five questions. Maybe six. Anything longer and your completion rate drops to the three people who would have texted you their thoughts anyway.

Use Google Forms, Typeform, or even a simple text message. The format matters less than the timing. Send it Monday or Tuesday after a weekend reunion. Not Friday. By Friday, people have moved on.

The questions that matter

Here is what to ask:

1. What was your favorite moment? Open-ended. Let people tell you what worked. You will see patterns. If eight people mention the family trivia game, you know what to keep.

2. What would you change? Not "what was bad." Just "what would you change." It is a softer question that gets more honest answers. People will tell you the food was cold, the schedule was too packed, or there was not enough time to just sit and talk.

3. How was the cost? Give options: too expensive, about right, would pay more for a better venue. Money is the thing nobody says out loud but everyone thinks about. Let the survey say it for them.

4. Would you come back next year? Yes, no, maybe with changes. This tells you your baseline attendance before you start planning.

5. Would you be willing to help plan the next one? This is the most important question on the survey. The reunion's future depends on it.

The question behind the question

That last question, about helping plan, is not really about getting volunteers. It is about finding out if you are alone.

If 30 people attended and zero say they would help plan, you have a problem that no amount of better programming will fix. The reunion is resting on one person's shoulders, and that person will eventually burn out.

If five people say yes, you have a planning committee. You have people who feel ownership. The next reunion just got ten times more likely to happen.

What to do with the results

Share them. Not a 10-page analysis. A quick summary. "Most people loved the cookout and the trivia. Several people wanted more free time. Cost felt right to most. Five people volunteered to help plan next year."

Sharing results does two things. It shows people their voice mattered. And it starts the conversation about next time while everyone is still paying attention.

The survey is not paperwork. It is the bridge between this reunion and the next one.