Research has suggested that communicating data uses and how response to a data collection benefits local communities resonates with the public (Walker, 2015; Bates et al., 2009; Conrey et al., 2012; Newburger, July 2009; Newburger, August 2009; Nichols, 2012). In this study, the benefits message in the survey notification materials was customized by mentioning state or the city and state where the respondent lives. Two different messages were tested in addition to a control message that did not have any geographic customization but used a vague message about benefits to the “community”. Using a nationally representative sample of 6,000 housing units to test the three separate treatments, we did not find a difference in response rates to an online survey when we made these modifications to the mailing materials. We did find some indication that benefits at a state level do not appear to motivate respondents as well as benefits at a lower level of geography, even a vaguely defined geography such as “community” based on responses to a question within the online survey.