The survey asks about your Village’s organizational characteristics. We have designed the questions to be as clear and straightforward as possible, with minimal need to look things up; however, there are several questions that might require some extra time (e.g., number of members/participants, percentage of members who are Village volunteers, types of services offered, budget size, year/month your Village started).

We have designed these questions to capture the work of Villages across the U.S. Consequently, some questions may not be relevant to your Village. We do not mean for the questionnaire contents to imply what Villages should be doing, but rather, to capture what Villages actually are doing in all of their variations. We appreciate your honest responses!

It has been 10 years since the last national comprehensive survey of Villages was conducted. Thanks to leaders like you, the Village Movement has grown and evolved considerably since then! Through this survey, we will be better able to communicate about Villages and advocate for the Village Movement--at the local, state, and national levels. Information collected through this project also will help you, as a Village leader, understand what other Villages are doing as you engage in your own planning. It might also lead to the development of new tools and resources that could help you connect with other Village leaders for more informed sharing of resources and opportunities. You will receive a copy of your responses to use for your own reporting purposes.

This project is being led in partnership between the Rutgers University Hub for Aging Collaboration and Village to Village Network (VtVN). The VtVN Data & Evaluation Committee is serving in an advisory capacity for the project.

We estimate it will take between 30 and 60 minutes to complete the questionnaire. There is no set number of questions because not all Villages will be asked the exact same set of questions. For example, if your Village does not include a membership component, then your Village will not be asked questions about its membership program.

This survey is for any organization, program, or group that both identifies as a Village and is operational. This survey is not designed for Villages in development, on hiatus, or closed. We welcome Villages of any size and type to participate. We aim to connect with as many Villages as possible through this survey. VtVN membership is NOT required to participate in this survey.

For Villages with membership, "operational" means that the Village has accepted its first member.

For Villages without membership, "operational" means that the Village is no longer in the planning phase and is offering its intended benefits (recognizing that benefits might evolve in response to community needs and shifts in resources).

If you are part of a Hub-and-Spoke network or organization, we ask that you do not proceed with this survey until you have connected directly with the Rutgers research team. We are connecting with Hub-and-Spoke Villages on a case-by-case basis to discuss how to best complete the survey questions in the context of your network or organization. Please email agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu to connect further if you have not yet already to discuss how to best proceed.

Yes! While this 2025 survey is designed for Villages in the U.S., we welcome operational Villages in other countries to participate as well. Please contact agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu to receive a survey link.

No! All operational Villages, whether you are affiliated with VtVN or not, are welcome and encouraged to complete the survey.

For non-VTVN members, we hope that completing this survey is an opportunity to connect with the opportunities of being part of broader network of Villages across the U.S. and beyond. VtVN membership offers multiple ways for Villages to learn about funding opportunities, share and learn best practices from other Villages, and gain access to important resources for launching and maintaining your Village. To learn more, contact the VtVN Board Chair, Bill Kincaid.

We ask for one response per Village. Please make sure to coordinate with other leaders of your Village to avoid duplicating efforts. We recommend designating a single individual to serve as the lead on completing the survey and to consult with others as they work on the answers. For example, some Villages might find it helpful to review their responses at a Board meeting before finalizing them, whereas other Villages might be happy to assign their Board president or program manager to complete the questionnaire on the Village's behalf.

There are multiple ways to access the questionnaire:

1. Villages can complete the questionnaire as a Microsoft Word document. They will receive the questionnaire as an email attachment from agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu.

2. Villages also can receive access to the questionnaire as a Google Doc. We recommend this option for Villages that plan to work as a team in responding to the questions.

3. If Villages prefer to work through the questionnaire "live" with members of the project team, they can request a Zoom meeting, and we are glad to meet!

4. You also can respond to the questionnaire directly through the survey portal. Please refer to the next FAQ for more information.

There are two ways to submit your responses when you are ready:

1. You can input your responses directly through the survey portal. Each Village will receive a link to the survey portal that is unique to them via an email from agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu.

2. You can email a copy of your completed worksheet to the research team at agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu, and the team will input your responses and follow up with you if there is any need to clarify your responses.

Yes! If you do not receive a pdf of your responses within a week after submitting them, please email agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu. Villages are free to share their own responses however they choose.

Good questions! Please read below.

• No party other than VtVN staff and Executive Committee members, as well as their research partners at Rutgers University, will have access to your Village specific responses. Data will not be shared with any third parties without the express commitment of your Village leadership for these purposes (with the exception of the point about “Regional Leads” below, as relevant).

• A small subset of information collected in this survey may be made available publicly through a planned National Village Registry, offered through VtVN. Villages will have the option to participate in the National Village Registry upon completing the survey.

• We value information from all Village models and ALL Villages. Aggregated information obtained through this survey will be invaluable for fundraising and advocacy. Therefore, we encourage the participation and information sharing from Villages that have unique regional or state presence such as Washington Area Villages Exchange (WAVE), Village Movement CA, UPLIFT Florida, as well as Villages affiliated with a formal Hub & Spoke model.

• An Aggregated Dataset for the Regional areas will be shared with Regional Leads. The data-sharing agreement will specify that the regional lead is not allowed to share the Village specific mini-dataset with any third parties (i.e., outside the staff and Board of Directors of their organizations).

• Villages can request to receive a copy of their own responses by emailing agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu.

• All data will be subject to the privacy, security, and document retention policies in place with VtVN and Rutgers University.

Please refer to the FAQ above about "Who will have access to the data, and will the data be shared?"

Project findings will be disseminated in various ways, such as through virtual meetings of Villages, conference presentations, and written reports. Stay tuned for updates in 2025 and outputs in 2026!

We appreciate word-of-mouth information sharing about the survey. Please do encourage other Villages through your networks to participate. They will receive a unique URL for completing the survey. Please encourage them "sign up to participate" at http://go.rutgers.edu/village-survey-sign-up.

The 2025 National Survey of Villages is designed to ask questions about your Village as an organization or program. It is not designed to gather information from or about individuals who participate in Villages. Conducting a national survey of Village members is an important possibility for future collaborative projects stemming from the current project (i.e., the 2025 National Survey of Villages).

We are glad to be in touch. Please email agingcollab@ssw.rutgers.edu or info@vtvnetwork.org.