Setting Response Quotas

Sometimes you only need a fixed number of responses. SurveyMethods lets you set a response limit on a collector so it stops accepting responses automatically once your target is reached.

How Response Limits Work

A response limit is set per collector, not on the survey itself. This means each way you distribute your survey (email invitation, web link, and so on) can have its own cap. When a collector reaches its limit, it closes automatically and new respondents see the survey’s closed message. Responses already in progress or submitted before the cap is hit are kept.

Because the limit lives on the collector, you can run several collectors from the same survey and control each audience separately.

Setting a Limit

You configure this while setting up or editing a collector in the Collect section:

  1. Open your survey and go to Collect.
  2. Select the collector you want to cap, or create a new one.
  3. On the options step, click Show advanced options.
  4. Expand Response limits.
  5. Choose On, automatically close this collector after receiving the specified number of responses.
  6. Enter the maximum number of responses (a whole number greater than 0).

To remove the cap later, reopen the same panel and select Off, collect responses until you manually close this collector.

Choosing a Limit

SettingEffect
OffCollector stays open until you close it manually
On + numberCollector auto-closes once that many responses arrive

A few things to keep in mind:

  • The count is per collector, so a limit of 100 on two collectors allows up to 200 responses across the survey.
  • The limit counts recorded responses, so partially completed responses may or may not count toward it depending on your survey settings.
  • Once a collector closes on its limit, you can reopen it manually if you decide to collect more.

Response limits sit alongside other controls like a survey close date, multiple-response rules, and IP restrictions. See Survey Options & Settings for the full list, and Distributing via Email for setting up collectors.

Need help? Browse more articles in the Survey Creation section.

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