FAQ

To register for the survey click here.

You will be redirected to our survey registration form. Please ensure that only one representative registers to participate in the NDC Index as only one registration per company is accepted. The person that registers should be responsible for completing and submitting the survey responses.

If you meet the criteria to participate in the NDC Index, please allow up to one week to receive your unique survey link after you register. If it has been more than a week, please check your spam folder. Please note that survey links are only sent between October 1st and February 1st.

For additional support with receiving your link, please contact us at [email protected].

The 2023 NDC Index questionnaire will be revised and updated. Companies will be unable to submit updates to a previously submitted survey. All companies are asked to register to receive their unique link to a new blank survey form. 

To avoid duplication and errors, we only accept one registration per company. For this reason, we recommend that the survey coordinator register. This person should also be able to serve as the point of contact between your company and the NDC Index team.

We suggest that this person be someone with access to employee data and be familiar with diversity practices conducted at the organization.

No. The NDC Index is available to all companies that desire to participate and that match our participation criteria. Due to the large volume of registrations, we are no longer able to make exceptions for companies that do not meet these criteria.

There is no cost associated with participating in the NDC Index. There is also no cost associated with receiving the free report, which includes your company scorecard with the overall results and the analytical sections that assesses your company’s performance in each of the key areas measured by the NDC Index.

Stop what you are doing and contact us. The NDC Index team is available during business hours to answer any questions and help you troubleshoot. The survey allows for re-entry and the ability to stop and re-engage as many times as desired. Final submission only occurs when the participant clicks submit. Incomplete submissions are not scored.

If you receive error messages in red upon clicking the submit button, some answers were left blank. You must answer these questions. There are no exceptions.

It depends. For companies that have experience compiling data to participate in diversity assessments, it may take the survey coordinator as little as 3-4 hours to enter the answers. Much of the time and effort is spent on identifying the individuals who keep the data and compiling it. Most of the questions are formatted as yes/no, check all that apply, and numerical inputs. There are limited comment boxes. To facilitate return participants, we also allow companies to use the same survey link from previous years to edit and update their answers.

 We have contracted with KeySurvey to store your data. All data your company provides will be stored on KeySurvey’s platform at www.keysurvey.com. Data are exported in aggregate form to analyze through Microsoft PowerBi and create custom reporting. Read more about Microsoft PowerBI’s world-leading security features here. Members of the NDC Index team that have access to this data are obligated to sign an NDA.

We agree to never publish, give, sell, or transfer any company data. Access to company data is limited to NDC Index staff. NDC Index staff members are required to sign Non-Disclosure Agreement. The contact information requested is used only internally and for survey management purposes. We do not disclose specific demographic data submitted in the Workforce Profile section unless the data are, at the time of submission, in the public domain or unless we have your company’s written consent. Identifiable information that may be disclosed in online and in-print reporting is limited to your company’s NDC Index results, including overall and assessment area scores. Non-identifiable data connected to the survey results may be used in aggregate analysis reports.

The NDC Index publishes all company scores as part of our commitment to externally encourage companies to make progress on their D&I strategy. Starting in 2022, the NDC Index will waive publication of scores for first-time participants that receive a score below 70. Regardless of score, all companies that participate in the NDC Index will be listed as Participating Companies with their company logo.

The NDC Index also honors companies that receive 90 points and more as NDC Index Best U.S. Companies for Diversity.

The NDC Index is the only comprehensive diversity assessment of its kind. It rates companies on their D&I strategy, giving them a score according to best practices to use in measuring their progress and to benchmark against other participating companies. 

We score specific questions under the following categories, which align with nationally recognized diversity best practices:

CEO Engagement: the extent to which your Chief Executive Officer is a champion of diversity and inclusion and your D&I efforts are integrated across your organization. 

Policies, Benefits, and Initiatives: the practices and strategies in support of diversity and inclusion across your organization.

Supplier Diversity: the extent to which your company is using its supplier diversity program to its full potential to meet D&I goals.

Corporate Outreach: the extent to which your company utilizes the full potential of employees, consumers, and experts as resources to meet D&I goals.

Corporate Social Responsibility: the extent to which your company provides for the social and economic wellbeing of the diverse community it serves.

Scores are attributed based on the participants’ answers to the five assessment areas. The scoring method was developed by the NDC Index Team through years of academic and professional research on diversity best practices. Not all questions receive the same points. We place more weight on some best practices than others—especially if these are foundational and fundamental to D&I strategies.

We are happy to provide specific data breakdowns through one of our customized benchmarking reports. We do not break down data in terms of these parameters in our complimentary NDC Index Report. All participants are compared to the companies that received the best score in each assessment area. For a deeper look, we provide a range of the company sizes that received these scores.

Congratulations! Your company will be featured in our NDC Index Best U.S. Companies for Diversity. You will also receive a copy with high-quality logo to publish on your website, because we want others to recognize your brand as a champion of diversity!

No. You do not need to be a partner or donate to the National Diversity Council to make the NDC Index Best U.S. Companies for Diversity list. To make the list, you must receive a score of 90 or above on the NDC Index. Scores are empirically and objectively determined based on the information companies provide in response to the NDC Index questions.

NDC Index results are announced by mid-April of each year, after participating companies have received a confirmation of their scores. Participating companies can expect to receive their complimentary NDC Index Report by June 1st.