- Why won't the results of the 2010 Domestic Stock Plan Design Survey be available to all NASPP members?
We are implementing a new policy with this year's survey. To encourage survey participation and ensure we provide comprehensive survey results, the 2010 Stock Plan Design Survey report will only be available to companies that complete the survey.
The fact that we have provided the survey results to all members in the past has proved to be a significant obstacle to participation. We regret that we've had to impose this policy but, when encouraging participation for the past few editions of the survey, we heard from many members questioning why they should bother to participate if they would receive the results anyway. Most members that asked this question did not end up completing the survey.
For the survey results to be useful for decision-making purposes, it is critical that we get sufficient participation. Thus, we feel this policy is necessary.
- Why are service providers generally not eligible to participate in the Domestic Stock Plan Design Survey?
The NASPP's Stock Plan Design and Administration Surveys are designed to capture industry practices in all aspects of stock plan design and administration. Generally, service providers do not offer stock compensation to their employees and therefore, they are not eligible to participate in the survey.
- Can service providers that offer stock compensation to their employees qualify to receive a copy of the survey by participating in it?
Yes! In fact, we would prefer that you utilize this approach to qualify to receive a copy of the survey. If you complete the survey, you do not need to fulfill any further requirements. Note however, that the persons that complete the survey must be responsible for design and/or administration of the plan and must have sufficient knowledge of your company's plans to respond to the survey accurately.
If your company is unwilling or unable to complete the survey, you can use one of the other two methods available to service providers to qualify to receive the survey results.
- Why are service providers that aren't eligible to participate in the survey required to do anything to receive a copy of the survey results? Can't service providers just pay for the survey results?
The Stock Plan Design and Administration Surveys are not easy to complete. For most issuers, completing the survey requires hours of research and input from multiple people. The survey is a significant commitment for our issuer members that participate in it, one that everyone who relies on the survey results benefits from. Because of this, we feel it is appropriate to also ask our service provider members who are interested in the survey results to make a contribution to the survey.
Our strong preference is for service providers to contribute to the survey by encouraging their clients to participate in it, as increasing participation in the survey will only make the results more valuable for everyone. In the words of one service provider that we discussed this policy with, this is a win-win. Moreover, at this point, further increasing participation is not a matter of insufficient funding. But, for those service providers that are unable or unwilling to contribute to the survey other than monetarily, we will make the survey results available for purchase at a cost of $1,100. Only service providers will be allowed to purchase the survey results, however; issuers must participate in the survey to receive the full results.
- How can service providers that are not eligible to participate qualify to receive a copy of the survey results?
Service providers can qualify to receive a copy of the survey results by fulfilling one of the following commitments:
- Promote the survey to your clients. Service providers who choose this option must encourage their clients to participate in the 2010 Survey in a minimum of two announcements to their client base. One must be a standalone announcement that exclusively promotes the survey while the other announcement can be incorporated into a client newsletter other promotional or marketing material. The announcements can be in email or paper format, but must be actively pushed out to clients; posting an announcement on your client website is not sufficient.
OR
- Provide ten client contacts to the NASPP. Service providers can choose to discuss the survey on an informal basis with select clients that they think would be interested in participating and then provide to the NASPP the names and contact information of those clients that agree to complete the survey. The clients must be eligible to complete the survey but not yet have started it and we ask that at least ten clients be provided to the NASPP. The NASPP or Deloitte will contact each of these individuals directly about their survey participation.
- Do service providers have to promote the survey AND provide ten contacts to be entitled to receive the results?
No! Service providers are only required to promote the survey via one of the two methods described above; it is not necessary to do both. Service providers that send the announcements promoting the survey do not have to provide any client names to the NASPP. Likewise, service providers that provide client names to the NASPP do not have to send any announcements to their clients.
- Are there any other ways that service providers can contribute to the survey and qualify to receive a copy of the survey results?
We have outlined two methods by which service providers can contribute to the survey below and qualify to receive the survey results. If you have another suggestion of how you might contribute, we would be happy to consider it. Note however, that we must be able to verify your contributions.
- Do service providers need to notify the NASPP in advance that they are planning on participating in this program?
Yes, we encourage any service providers that want to participate in this program to contact us before communicating with clients. We can provide sample communication materials to you and other guidance for your communications.
If you are planning on sending announcements of the survey to your clients, please include Danyle Anderson, the NASPP Programs Director, in the announcements, so that we know they have been distributed. Danyle's email address is
danderson@naspp.com.
- Do service providers have to provide a list of ten clients for all representatives in their firms that want to receive the survey results?
No, this is not necessary. Service providers only need to provide ten clients for the entire firm; if you do this, we will provide you with a copy of the results that you can distribute to all representatives in your firm. This allows you to distribute the workload between all of the representatives in your firm. For example, if you are a law firm with five attorneys that work in equity compensation, each attorney would only need to get two of his/her clients to agree to participate in the survey and allow their contact info to be forwarded to the NASPP.
And, remember, service providers that send announcements of the survey to their clients don't need to provide a list of clients to the NASPP.
- What if service providers don't want Deloitte contacting their clients?
No problem. If you are concerned about Deloitte contacting your clients, let us know and we will make sure that an NASPP representative completes the initial follow-up to ensure your clients' participation.
Note, however, that once your clients begin to complete the survey, they will be part of the survey database. Deloitte is responsible for all data review and analysis, provides assistance to survey respondents, and also follows up with respondents that start the survey to ensure they complete it (few respondents are able to complete the survey in one session).
- If my clients participate in the survey, is Deloitte or the NASPP going to be able to market their products and services to them?
No. Under the terms of our agreement with Deloitte, neither the NASPP nor Deloitte can use any of the data collected in the survey for marketing or solicitation purposes. This agreement is strictly enforced and we are confident that both parties adhere to it. Should either Deloitte or the NASPP contact your clients regarding their participation in the survey, the survey will be the only topic discussed in those communications.
Of course, to the extent that your clients are already NASPP members or Deloitte clients or participate in programs offered by either the NASPP or Deloitte, they may receive solicitations as a result of this participation.
- How do service providers know which clients are already participating in the survey?
If service providers decide to provide a list of clients to the NASPP, rather than sending announcements to clients, our expectation is that the provider will first discuss the survey with the clients that they think would be the best candidates to complete the survey. You can start this discussion by asking your clients if they are already participating in the survey; if they are, there's no reason to continue the discussion.
- Won't clients be annoyed if service providers give their contact info to the NASPP?
It was never our intention for service providers to release the contact info for their clients without first getting permission from their clients to do so. We would imagine that the service provider would select clients that they have a strong relationship with and have an informal conversation with them about the survey. During that conversation, the service provider would ascertain that the client is not already participating in the survey, is interested in the survey, and gives permission to the provider to forward their contact information on to the NASPP for follow-up.
- What is the deadline service providers must meet in order to qualify to receive the results?
Service providers must distribute the client communication and provide evidence of that communication or provide the list of client contacts to the NASPP no later than April 2 to qualify to receive the survey results.
- If we choose to distribute the two communication pieces, does the NASPP have a sample communication available that we can follow?
Yes, sample communication is available. Please contact Danyle Anderson (danderson@naspp.com or 813-746-0192) to receive a copy.
- What if service providers can only distribute one announcement to their clients?
We are happy to work with service providers around their involvement with the survey, provided you are making a good-faith effort to contribute to the survey and fulfill the requirements we have outlined.
One alternative for service providers in this situation might be to not send any announcements to their clients and instead rely on the more informal approach of talking to a few of their clients and then providing the names and contacts of clients that are willing to complete the survey to the NASPP. Service providers that rely on this approach don't need to send any announcements to their clients.
If service providers want to rely on the client announcement approach but can only send one announcement, not two, this may be acceptable. Please contact us to discuss this further.
- What if service providers want to provide a list of clients that are willing to participate in the survey, but don't think they can get ten clients to agree?
We are happy to work with service providers around their involvement with the survey, provided you are making a good-faith effort to contribute to the survey and fulfill the requirements we have outlined.
One alternative for service providers in this situation might be to distribute the announcements promoting the survey to their clients; service providers that rely on this approach do not need to provide any client names to the NASPP.
Where service providers want to provide the list of clients to the NASPP, but simply can't come up with ten clients, we may be able to accept whatever you think you can manage. Please contact us to discuss what you think you can do.
- Can service providers pay to receive the survey results, instead of promoting the survey?
For service providers that are unable or unwilling to contribute to the survey in any of the ways we have suggested, the final results of the 2010 Domestic Stock Plan Design Survey will be available for purchase at a price of $1,100. We feel this price is comparable to what other providers would charge for data of this magnitude.
This alternative is only available for service providers, however; issuers must participate in the survey to receive the results.
- What are the NASPP and Deloitte doing to increase participation in the survey besides imposing this policy?
We have implemented number of initiatives to increase participation in the survey.
With respect to the survey itself, we have significantly reduced the size of the survey, to about half the length of the last survey. We accomplished this by dividing the survey into two separate surveys: one that focuses on design and a second survey that focuses on administration. The design survey will be completed this year and the administration survey will be completed next year. We hope that reducing the burden on issuers will encourage more to complete the full survey.
We have implemented a new survey tool that we expect will solve a number of technical hurdles that prevented some issuers from completing the survey in the past.
We also delayed the launch of this survey for several months in response to feedback we received about the timing of the last survey and also to give members a longer period to rest between surveys.
During the survey itself, both the NASPP and Deloitte will send multiple emails to our members and clients encouraging participation. The NASPP will send at least one email per week; in the final weeks of the survey, we may send more than one email per week. We will also promote the survey in the NASPP Advisor, during NASPP webcasts, in the NASPP blog, and on the NASPP website. We encourage NASPP chapters to promote the survey at their chapter meetings. Additional encouragement will be provided by both the NASPP and Deloitte in personal communications to members and clients.
The NASPP will also promote the survey to our full email distribution list, which includes lists purchased from various sources. These emails will also be sent on a weekly basis.
Finally, we will offer a number on incentives to issuers to participate in the survey, including weekly raffles and discounts on NASPP membership and Conference registration. The full terms of participation in the raffles and discounts will be provided when the survey is launched.
- For issuers and service providers that choose not to participate in the survey, will any information be available on the survey results?
Yes, we plan to release a synopsis of the results to all NASPP members, both issuers and service providers. This synopsis will be similar to the survey highlights we have provided in the past. For an example of the data we might include in the synopsis, see the webcast
"Trends and Analysis from the 2007 Stock Plan Design and Administration Survey" in which the NASPP and Deloitte presented highlights of the 2007 Survey.
In addition, service providers (but not issuers) can choose to purchase the full survey results for $1,100.
- Who do we contact if we have further questions?
Service providers are encouraged to contact Danyle Anderson at the NASPP
(danderson@naspp.com or 813-746-0192) for assistance.
