Community Partner Email and Survey Information for the Carnegie Engagement Classification

Below is the email and the survey questions that will be sent to community partners as part of the 2026 Carnegie Community Engagement Elective Classification process.

Community partners will not need to create a GivePulse account to complete the survey. Each recipient will receive a unique, “keyed” URL that allows them to respond as a guest. This link can also be forwarded to another contact if needed.

We recommend reminding recipients to check their spam or junk folders, as some email systems may filter the message due to strict security settings. To ensure delivery, please ask partners and their IT to add notification@givepulse.com to their safe sender list. If there are any issues, please Submit a Support Ticket and our team can help locate the unique keyed URL for the partner.

• What to expect from the email that is sent out to Community Partners 
• What to expect from the survey questions

What to expect from the email that is sent out to Community Partners 

Email sender: notification@givepulse.com
Subject line: 202X Carnegie Elective Community Engagement Classification

{Name of Campus} is in the process of applying for the 202X Elective Community Engagement Classification from the Carnegie Foundation. The classification is offered to campuses that can demonstrate evidence of collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial creation and exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity. Partnerships that meet the standards of community engagement are grounded in the qualities of reciprocity, mutual respect, shared authority, and co-creation of goals and outcomes.

We were provided your email address by the campus applying for the Community Engagement Classification. The Community Engagement classification is offered by the Carnegie Foundation and is available to all colleges and universities in the United States. For more information about the classification, please go to https://carnegieclassifications.acenet.edu/elective-classifications/.

We would like to ask you to assist with this classification process by providing confidential responses to a very brief online survey. While your participation in the survey is entirely voluntary, your input and perspective on the activity are valuable in evaluating campus community engagement. Beyond the evaluation of campus community engagement, the responses provided by community partners contributes to a national understanding of how communities and campuses are collaborating for the purpose of deepening the quality and impact of such partnerships.

In order to be able to assess and improve partnership activities, it is important to provide candid responses to the questions. The responses you provide are confidential and will not be shared with your partner campus.
                              
Many thanks for your response. 

Sincerely,
The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification Team

An Example Image of the Survey Notifcation:                                            

Survey Questions 

The survey will include the definition of community engagement from the Carnegie Foundation. Exact language of the survey follows:

As a community partner, to what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements with regards to your collaboration with this institution? (1= Strongly disagree, 4=Strongly agree)              

• As a partner, I feel that my organization and I are recognized by the campus.

• I am asked about my perceptions of the institution’s engagement with and impact on the community.

• My experience, knowledge, and opinions are valued in this partnership.

• I am involved in important campus conversations that impact my community.

• The faculty and/or staff in our community partnership try to ensure mutuality and reciprocity in partnerships.

• The campus collects and shares feedback and assessment findings regarding partnerships, reciprocity, and mutual benefit, both from community partners to the institution and from the institution to the community.

• Our partnership with the campus is having a positive impact on my community.
• Please provide any additional information that you think will be important for understanding how the campus partnering with you has enacted reciprocity, mutual respect, shared authority, and co-creation of goals and outcomes.

Please indicate whether you consent to having your responses used for research purposes by the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. For research purposes, all responses will be aggregated, and no individual partner or campus information will be identified. If you have any questions, please contact us via email: carnegieelectives@acenet.edu.

Please respond to A or B:    

• A) I consent to having the information provided in the survey used for the purposes of research. In providing this consent, the identity of my organization will not be disclosed.
  
  
• B) I do not consent to having the information provided in the survey used for research purposes.

Snippets of what the Survey will look like:

Before Submitting: