Overview of surveys and costs
Survey Type |
Who does it? |
Who gets results? |
How much? |
Church Life Survey
|
Adults: The Attender Survey gives each attender aged 15 years and over a voice to evaluate and reflect on their experience of church life. Children: The Child Attender Survey is an optional survey that enables churches to hear the views of children aged 8 to 14 years. |
✓ Denominations. |
$400 per local church plus $2 per survey form ordered (adult surveys in any language and child surveys) |
Leader Survey
Aim: For leaders to reflect on leadership development |
Anyone in ministry or pastoral |
✓ Denominational and regional leaders get a series of reports on leader wellbeing and effectiveness. |
$180 per church |
|
Local Church Audit
Aim: To map activities, resources and people in local churches |
|
Denominational and regional leaders get access to findings. |
$180 per church |
What churches get for the money
Survey kit and instructions
Participating churches will be provided with a survey kit including their ordered surveys, full instructions, promotional material and worship service resources to assist leaders in running the Church Life Survey at their church. The cost provides Attender Surveys ordered, for churchgoers aged 15 years and over; as well as Child Surveys ordered, for churchgoers aged 8 to 14 (optional to order).
Church Life Pack
Following completion of the Church Life Survey, participating churches receive a Church Life Pack of resources, including their survey results in a comprehensive Church Life Profile. The Pack is designed to be practical and easy to use, to help churches get the most out of their results, strengthen their vitality and plan for the future.
- A church’s unique Church Life Profile shows their survey results with a clear evaluation of their church’s vitality. Online access to the Profile is included.
- A Church Life Survey Workbook to help churches to evaluate, communicate and act on their survey results. Step-by-step processes are included to apply their results in mission planning and building a more vital future.
- Planning and multimedia resources for facilitators, including workshop outlines and audio visual resources are available online.
N.B. A minimum of 10 survey forms is required to produce a Church Life Profile of results, in order to protect the confidentiality of attenders. Special pricing arrangements are in place for small rural churches, who do not have sufficient numbers of attenders to produce a Profile of results.
What denominations and regions get for the money
As well as producing individual results for local churches, NCLS Research also supplies Denominational and Regional Church Life Profiles. These Profiles, along with a range of other reports, appraise a denomination’s churches in areas such as: church health and vitality, demographics of attenders and attendance patterns.
More detail on the denominational outputs from the Leader Survey and Local Church Audit is available in the 2026 NCLS Proposal for Denominations.
By providing an evidence base for decisions and allocation of resources and training, NCLS Research aims to equip denominational leaders for strategic and pastoral leadership of their churches.
Discounts and subsidies
A range of ways are provided to keep costs down for churches. Various discounts may apply to a church such as the flat rate for small churches, subsidies from denominations and bulk order discounts.
1. Small church flat rate: churches with less than 30 attenders can receive a capped price.
2. Denominational bulk order discount: Denominations will get a bulk discount when most churches in a region or state take part.
3. Clusters: Small churches may work together in clusters for the survey to reduce costs. This is normally arranged through the NCLS Regional Coordinator in that region or denomination.
4. Denominational subsidy: Some regions and denominations provide a subsidy for their churches, perhaps paying the base fee on behalf of the local churches (while others will pass on costs to the local church).
5. Wider sponsorship: The 2026 NCLS receives some wider sponsorship, to enable costs to be kept to a minimum for participating churches.
About Payment
When churches place their order for surveys, no payment is required at the time of submitting their order.
In general, NCLS Research works through Regional Coordinators from each denomination, state or region.
After survey orders have been placed, invoices will be generated for denominations that list costs for local churches and incorporate any relevant discounts. Each denomination or region will have their own financial arrangements regarding how they liaise with their own local churches.
In cases where there is no active Regional Coordinator, then local churches may liaise directly with the NCLS Research office surveys@ncls.org.au.
Full documentation detailing arrangements with denominations is available for Regional Coordinators.