There are many telemarketing companies calling Americans. They are the obnoxious calls that come too early in the morning or too late at night.
Usually, they’re trying to sell you a product or service. And often, they don't take no for an answer, and you must hang up.
But at some point, you might receive a call from someone who just wants your opinion on a matter. These are polling companies. This is what Venture Data does.
A polling company conducts surveys of public opinion. They provide insights into the beliefs and preferences of particular groups of people. These people are often voters in specific states. Polling companies use random quota samples to represent the public.
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Many polling companies are calling around the country. Before giving information, it is important to know which ones are legitimate and which are scams. Venture Data Survey is a polling company.
But is it legit?
Founded in 1994, Venture Data Survey is a legitimate national research marketing company. They use telephone polling to conduct polls and surveys.
Venture Data collects data from you through various interviewing techniques and technology. They then provide their clients with the collected data.
Venture Data mainly works for political candidates. They have also polled for NBC, The Wall Street Journal, and other entities.
Venture Data doesn’t engage in telemarketing or solicitation. They don’t try to sell you anything. It is only interested in your opinion on various subjects.
Venture Data is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, and operates outbound call centers across the U.S. They generate approximately $22 million annually.
Venture Data uses various methods to survey participants. Some of these methods include:
IVR stands for interactive voice response. These are automated phone surveys. They allow the respondent to interact using the keypad or voice recognition. They are used after the initial call by a human to the person who respond.
Venture Data is strictly a data collection company. It is not a telemarketer and doesn't try to sell you anything. Because it doesn't try to sell a product or service, Venture Data doesn't have to adhere to the National Do Not Call Registry.
The National Do Not Call Registry is a database run by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that lists the number of individuals and families who do not want telemarketers to contact them.
Although Venture Data is exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry, it does provide a courtesy to those who don't wish to be contacted by telephone. It maintains a voluntary internal Do Not Call list.
If you go to their website, you can submit your phone number, and it will be excluded from future surveys or polls. This is the only way to avoid the caller from Venture Data.
Because Venture Data is exempt from the Do Not Call Registry, any American can potentially be called by them. But to ensure you're part of a political poll, you can sign up on their website.
But be aware that by doing this, you consent to calls and texts from Venture Data.
Participating in a Venture Data Survey does not entitle you to compensation. You are only participating as a volunteer.
Venture Data will also contact recipients through text messaging. When you volunteer to participate in a survey, you are also giving permission to receive text messages.
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As a research company, Venture Data often works with marketing and advertising agencies. They ask questions about products and services. Some questions they've been known to ask are.
Venture Data often works with political campaigns, in addition to marketing and advertising agencies. They may ask questions about political candidates or issues of the day.
Venture Data LLC agreed to pay $2.1 million to settle a class action lawsuit. Public Opinion Strategies LLC was also part of the lawsuit.
Public Opinion Strategies is a research firm specializing in:
Public Opinion’s roots are in campaign management.
The lawsuit alleged that Venture Data made calls on behalf of Public Opinion using an automatic phone dialing system. They used it to place calls on the cell phone number without obtaining the recipient's prior consent.
This violated the Consumer Protection Act.
If Venture Data called your phone on June 11 or September 9, 2014, as part of the Public Opinion Strategies survey, recipients could potentially be eligible for payment from the class action settlement.
The estimated payment per claim was $160.
In 1991, the Telephone Protection Act (TCPA) was enacted. It enacted several laws regarding the use of phone marketing strategies. Several techniques it eliminated were:
In other words, surveyors who are not soliciting business aren't allowed to use these techniques. The exception is if the recipient opts into the polling. To opt in, sign up on Venture Data’s website.
Push polling is controversial. It's a form of negative campaigning. Pseudo-opinion polls or "push polls" are used to influence voters' beliefs and views.
Legitimate opinion polls help politicians and parties better understand the electorate. Push polls, on the other hand, have loaded questions. They try to influence the views of the electorate and usually discredit a politician.
They may insinuate that a politician running is someone who they’re not. For example,
“Did you know that Governor Jane Doe is a communist”?
The question forces the responder to think about a negative aspect of the politician’s character. This puts the recipient in an uncomfortable position.
On Venture Data's website, they claim they have never conducted nor participated in push polling. They say they conduct telephone and online research to gather opinions. They limit the number of representative voters polled.
They say they adhered to strict methodological standards.
Opinion polls are designed to represent the opinions of a population. They use a series of questions and then extrapolate generalities. Billions of dollars are spent on these polls yearly.
Venture Data is just one of many polling companies. Colleges and universities compete with them, but one commercial competitor stands out and is the most well-known.
Founded in 1935, Gallup, Inc conducts worldwide polls. They generate approximately $195 million annually.
Most surveys conducted by Gallup are interviews performed via landline or cell phone. They refer to their audience as "national adults" and survey those aged 18 or older.
For landline interviews, they ask for an adult in the family. But for cell phones, they know they are reaching an individual, not a family.
Findings are based on surveys from telephone samples. These consist of directory-assisted random-digit-dial (RDD) telephone samples. A computer randomly generates the phone numbers from all working phone exchanges.
Formerly ABT Associates, ABT Global was founded in 1981 and generates approximately $110 million per year. They conduct public opinion research.
ABT works with clients ABC News and The Washington Post monthly. Polls are conducted via landline and cell phone. One thousand adults are sampled for each survey, and the polls will be conducted in English and Spanish.
When watching the news, you may have seen a poll reported that came from academia. There are many colleges and universities that poll.
Some colleges that are known for polling include:
Also - Siena College teams up with the New York Times.
You may still be wondering if you should do a Venture Data survey. They do take some time, but it could be interesting to see what questions they ask and how the questions are phrased.
Here are some frequently asked questions about Venture Data.
Venture Data doesn’t compensate you for participating in a poll. This is strictly voluntary.
Venture Data doesn't have to adhere to the No Call List because it isn't trying to sell anything. It is simply asking for opinions.
Although Venture Data is not a scam, it may be a nuisance if you receive a call at an inopportune time. You can exclude your phone number from surveys by going to their website.
In the past, they used an illegal technique to poll and were fined $2.1 million in a class action suit.
If you’re interested, you can sign up for a survey. But you won’t be compensated for completing it.
