How to provide compensation for participants in research studies

A step-by-step guide for how government organizations can work with vendors to compensate research participants.

Note: This guide describes how to get compensation to your participants. We have a separate resource that addresses how much to compensate and scenarios where you should or shouldn’t compensate.  

Two ways to compensate participants

It’s standard practice to compensate people who participate in experience research projects. In general, government organizations can take 2 approaches to compensating participants. 

First, you can use a research platform. Many research platforms handle compensation, along with other important administrative requirements such as issuing tax forms. If you plan to compensate participants through a research platform, you should consult the documentation for the platform you use. If you don’t have access to a testing platform, you may be able to use Mass Digital’s. Meet with us to learn more. 

If you can’t use a testing platform, you may be able to work with a vendor. The steps in this guide describe how Mass Digital works with its vendors to send compensation. We’re happy to support you in adapting these steps for your context.  

Important: Neither approach involves you sending payment directly. This would require you to act as a third-party payment processor, which is complicated and expensive. 

Before the study: Preparing to compensate participants without using a testing platform

Identify and onboard a vendor who can help you distribute incentives

Mass Digital uses a vendor to compensate participants. We don't distribute them directly because we don't want to take on the cost and challenge of a third-party payment processor.

If you don’t have a vendor who can do this, we may be able to connect you with one. 

The rest of this guide describes how you and the vendor will work together on getting compensation to participants. We recommend picking a vendor that has done experience research before. Walk through the entire process of compensating a participant with your vendor before starting your study. 

Decide how much to compensate for each session

You can use our guide to compensation benchmarks to set the right amount. 

Mass Digital does not use cash or cash-equivalent gift cards for compensation. Instead, our vendor uses a service that lets participants choose gift cards to a variety of stores. Cash or cash-equivalent gift cards can be a headache for constituents. They may have to report them as additional assets, which can change their eligibility for programs like MassHealth or SNAP. 

Make sure your recruitment materials include the compensation

Recruitment materials should name the form and amount of compensation. Be clear about what people will receive if they participate. This makes recruiting more efficient and helps set expectations for the study.

Do not include the compensation amount in your consent form

Instead, refer participants to your recruiting materials, where you should list what the compensation for the study is. Including compensation in your consent form could be interpreted as forming a contract with the participant. Contracts come with a different set of legal requirements that you don’t want to wade into. 

Dedicate time at the end of sessions to confirming compensation details

Update your interview protocols or moderator's guides to include a section on compensation details. You should:

• Verify that you have a signed consent form from the participant. If they have a helper, you should have a consent form from them, too.  
• Confirm the participant’s email address. If they have a helper, confirm the helper’s email address, too.  
• Remind the participant that they will receive their compensation in the form of a digital gift card.  
• Say who the card will come from. For example, if your vendor sends the card through a specific gift card distributor, name that distributor.   
• Say when the participant should expect to receive compensation by.  
• Remind the participant to check spam/junk folders.  
• Say what to do or whom to contact if the participant doesn’t receive compensation by the deadline. 

Draft a thank you email

Draft the message and subject line of the thank you email your vendor will send. This thank you is not just for compensation. It should also thank the participant for their time and effort.

Remember that you or another state organization may want to work with the participant again. The thank you email is part of the participant's experience doing research with the Commonwealth. 

Steps for sending compensation to the participant

1. Submit an incentive request to your vendor

   Mass Digital submits incentive requests once a week during studies. This makes incentive tracking easier and more efficient. Your vendor will need: 

   • Email addresses for participants and helpers 
   • Incentive amount per participant and helper 

   The vendor should already have the thank you email text and subject line.  

2. Track incentives internally

   Keep your own records of compensation and related details. For example, you'll want a record of things like:

   • The participant (or ideally, their pseudonym) 
   • Whether you have a signed copy of their consent form
   • If relevant, their helper and their helper's consent form
   • Date of the research session
   • Compensation amount
   • The date your vendor sent the confirmation email

   Vendors should also track their compensation. If they distribute more than $600 annually, they may have to issue tax documents. You don’t have to do this unless your organization distributes compensation directly. We strongly recommend you don’t do this.

3. Get confirmation from your vendor that they’ve sent the compensation

   They can do this by including you (under BCC) in the email, sending you a screenshot of the email, etc.