Here are some suggestions for improving mail survey response rates, based on an article by Fox, Crask, and Kim that appeared in Public Opinion Quarterly (1988; 52, 467-491). They analyzed 82 previous studies that examined mail survey response rate variables, and found that increased response rates are associated most strongly with:

• university sponsorship
• prenotification by letter; and
• stamped return postage;

and somewhat associated with:

• first class outgoing postage; and
• green, rather than white, colored questionnaires.

No increase in response rates was obtained by using:

• notification of a cut-off date for responses;
• stamped outgoing postage;
• including a postscript asking for cooperation.

Fox et. al. also found that including a small monetary incentive with the questionnaire tended to increase response rate, although with diminishing returns.

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