Key Takeaways from the 2024 National Member Survey
ABOUT BGC CANADA
For 125 years, BGC Canada has been creating opportunities for millions of Canadian kids and teens. As Canada’s largest child and youth serving charitable and community services organization, our Clubs open their doors to young people of all ages and their families at over 600 locations nationwide. During out-of-school hours in small and large cities, and rural and Indigenous communities, our trained staff and volunteers provide programs and services that help young people realize positive outcomes in self-expression, academics, healthy living, physical activity, job readiness, mental wellness, social development, leadership, and more.
Opportunity changes everything.
BGC LEARNING AND IMPACT PROJECT
The purpose of the Learning and Impact Project is to prove and improve the impact of Clubs across Canada, individually and collectively, through evaluation. To evaluate the effectiveness of Clubs in achieving the impact they intend, BGC Canada has embarked on a multi-year project to build the capacity of Clubs to collect data on the effects of the Club experience on the lives of children and youth. To better tell the story of BGC Clubs’ impact on Club participants, Clubs collect both quantitative (survey) and qualitative (interview) data from members about the impact of the Club experience on their lives.
To date, Clubs have collected over 20,500 survey responses and conducted over 850 interviews, making this the largest evaluative study of its kind in Canada. This report summarizes the key take-aways from the 2024 deployment of the Member Survey.
About the Member Survey
The BGC Member Survey is a national outcomes survey that Clubs deploy to children and youth ages eight and older. The
survey assesses impact across 21 factors in four key domains:
POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
Connection
Belonging
Conflict resolution
Acceptance of self
Acceptance of others
HEALTHY LIVING
Choices
Nutrition
Physical activity
Positive outlook
Resilience
LIFELONG LEARNING
School readiness
Exploration
Creativity
Challenges
Goal attainment
LEADERSHIP
Identity as a leader
Influence
Confidence
Initiative
Cooperation
Self-regulation
The 2024 Member Survey included four demographic questions that enabled analysis comparing different groups, including Club duration, age, gender identity, and Indigenous identity. The survey is available in both English and French.
The 2024 survey results are summarized below as response distributions and mean ratings. Response distributions are the percent of responses by response option: Not at all, A little, Some, and/or A lot. Mean ratings are the average score for each question or domain (Not at all = 0, A lot = 3). Mean ratings were calculated by assigning a numerical value to response options (Not at all = 0, A little = 1, Some = 2, and A lot = 3), calculating the sum of responses, and dividing by the number of respondents.
INSIGHT #1
The impact of
Clubs is big
The one primary take-away from the
2024 Club Member Survey is this:
When you come to a Club, your life
is impacted. In 21 areas of child and
youth development, members say
overwhelmingly that the Club is making
a difference. A big difference.
Headlining the areas of impact are a
sense of connection, the ability to take
initiative, eagerness to explore new
things, confidence in their abilities,
comfort in their unique identity,
empathy and understanding toward
others, physical activity, and cooperation.
* Percentages represent the percent of
survey respondents that reported “A little,”
“Some,” or “A lot” of impact because of the Club.
Because of a Club*…
Leading areas of impact
- 95% of members have more people they like to spend time with.
- 92% of members are better at helping out when it is needed.
- 91% of members are more excited to try new things.
- 91% of members are more confident in their abilities.
- 90% of members feel more comfortable being themselves.
- 90% of members are more aware of the feelings of others.
- 90% of members are more physically active.
- 90% of members work better with others.
Strong areas of impact
- 89% of members make better choices for themselves.
- 89% of members have a more positive influence on others.
- 88% of members are better able to take steps to reach their goals.
- 87% of members feel like they matter to more people.
- 87% of members like to challenge themselves more.
- 85% of members are better able to bounce back after going through a hard time.
- 85% of members feel more confident about their future.
- 85% of members use their imagination more when they are doing things
INSIGHT #2
In a few areas, the impact is extraordinary
In the survey, Club members were given four options to respond to the impact of the Club: “not at all,” “a little,” “some,” and “a lot.” In a few items, the percentage of respondents selecting “a lot” was extraordinary. These are the items with an overwhelmingly strong response. These are the leading areas that members reported the Club making “a lot” of difference.
INSIGHT #3
Leadership is the area of strongest impact
Survey data on the four domains of Positive Relationships, Healthy Living, Lifelong Learning, and Leadership are relatively even, demonstrating that Clubs are making a substantial impact in all four domains.
However, the domain of Leadership is slightly stronger than the others. The leading items in
this domain relate to collaboration, contribution to others, and confidence in one’s own abilities.
Leadership is the area of strongest impact
Survey data on the four domains of Positive Relationships, Healthy Living, Lifelong Learning, and Leadership are relatively even, demonstrating that Clubs are making a substantial impact in all four domains.
However, the domain of Leadership is slightly stronger than the others. The leading items in this domain relate to collaboration, contribution to others, and confidence in one’s own abilities.
INSIGHT #4
Dosage makes a difference
The survey shows that members who have been with the Club more years report greater impact than those who have been with the Club fewer years.
In all four domains, members who have attended five years or more report the most impact from Clubs. Attending 2-5 years reveals greater impact in all domains with the exception of Lifelong Learning, which ratings dip slightly in the 2 to 5-year period.
This means that the length of involvement in the Club increases the impact of Clubs. In general, the longer members have the Club experience, the more impact gain in positive relationships, healthy living, lifelong learning, and leadership.
INSIGHT #5
Indigenous members report experiencing a slightly higher impact from Clubs
Club members identifying as Indigenous report experiencing a higher level of impact in most items. In the four domains, Indigenous respondents report greater impact in Positive Relationships (Indigenous mean of 1.86 to the overall mean of 1.84), Healthy Living (Indigenous mean of 1.88 to the overall mean of 1.85), Lifelong Learning (Indigenous mean of 1.83 to the overall mean of 1.82), and the same impact in Leadership (Indigenous mean of 1.89 to the overall mean of 1.89).
In 15 of the 21 items, members identifying as Indigenous report a higher impact from Clubs than the average overall mean. The five items that were lagging slightly are “I make better choices for myself,” “I use my imagination more when I am doing things,” “I am more comfortable leading,” “I work better with others,” and “I like challenging myself more.” The item that was the same is “I am more physically active.”
INSIGHT #6
Girls report higher impact
Club Members identifying as girls or women report a higher level of impact when compared both to the overall mean and to other gender identities. Respondents that identify as nonbinary (1.7% of survey respondents) and those that chose to write-in their gender identity (1% of respondents) report lower levels of impact. Those identifying as Two-Spirit (0.8% of respondents) are closer to the overall average, reporting higher impact in the domain of Healthy Living (mean of 1.90 to the overall mean of 1.85).
CONCLUSION
In summary, the survey data reveals the substantial impact of Clubs in the lives
of BGC Club members. Lives are being changed through Clubs, and not just in one
or two areas, but in all 21 factors of intended impact. The survey provides evidence
that Clubs are making a profound difference for Canadian children and youth.
The survey is designed to help Clubs prove and improve their impact. Some areas of
possible improvement for the future, including conflict resolution skills, resilience,
school preparedness, knowledge of healthy food, and the 11-13 age range that is filled
with potential and complexity. These are areas for Clubs to grow into with new and
creative strategies and programming.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
BGC Clubs
BGC Canada would like to acknowledge the 79 Clubs across the country that participated in the 2024 National Member Survey. Thank you for your commitment to positive outcomes for the children and youth you serve.
Dialogues in Action
BGC Canada would also like to acknowledge our evaluation partner in the Learning and Impact Project. Thank you for guiding us in our work to prove and improve the impact of the Club experience.
