Proposals and polls

Proposals and polls collect structured responses from a group. They can help test an idea, make a decision, identify priorities, schedule a meeting, or elect representatives.

Find the right help

These parts of the manual answer different questions:

A voting method defines how people respond and how results are calculated. A poll template is a reusable configuration built on a voting method, with preset instructions, options, and settings. A decision process may use a discussion and several templates before the group reaches an outcome.

Proposals

A proposal asks people to respond to a statement or course of action. Loomio includes templates for common purposes:

• Sense check gathers early reactions;
• Advice gathers input for a decision maker;
• Consent tests for meaningful objections; and
• Consensus seeks collective agreement.

See Proposals to compare them.

Polls

Use a poll when participants need to select, score, allocate, rank, state their availability, or cast an election ballot:

• Choose finds popular options;
• Score evaluates every option on a scale;
• Allocate distributes a limited budget of points;
• Rank finds an overall order of preference;
• Time poll finds when people are available; and
• STV Election elects multiple winners proportionally.

See Polls to compare them.

Start a proposal or poll

Choose whether to use a discussion

Start the proposal or poll inside a discussion when people need context, questions, or conversation before responding. A discussion can contain several proposals over time, keeping amendments and the eventual outcome together as one record of the topic.

Run a standalone poll when the discussion has already happened elsewhere, such as at a meeting, or when the question is simple and you only need to collect responses. Include enough detail or a link to the relevant record so voters understand what they are responding to.

In a discussion

Open the discussion, scroll to the reply area, select Start a vote, and choose a template.

Without a discussion

Open the Polls tab on the group page, select New poll, and choose a template.

If you create a discussion and poll at the same time only to run a vote, avoid notifying people twice. Start the discussion without notifying them and use the poll invitation, or run the poll without a discussion.

From start to outcome

A proposal or poll goes through these stages.

1. Create it

Give it a title and details, check its options and settings, and set a closing time. Then choose when voting opens:

• Voting opens immediately opens it as soon as you start it.
• An Opening date schedules it. People can see it before then, but they cannot vote until it opens.
• If you do neither, it is saved as a draft.

2. Voting opens

When voting opens, Loomio notifies the people you invited. See Invite to vote.

3. People vote

While it is open, people can vote, explain their vote, and change their vote. Results update as people vote, unless results are hidden until it closes. By default, people who have not voted get a reminder a day before it closes.

4. It closes

It closes automatically at the closing time. A thread admin can also close it early. After it closes, a thread admin can reopen it with a new closing time to let people keep voting. Polls that hide results until voting closes, including anonymous polls, cannot be reopened. You can extend their closing time while they are still open.

5. Share an outcome

When it closes, Loomio asks the thread admins to share an outcome.

The outcome states what was decided and what will happen next. It appears above the results, so it is the first thing people read. When you publish it, you can notify people. They receive an email with the results and the outcome.

You can also set a Review date. On that date, Loomio reminds you to review the decision.