Dhm Research

What Dhm Research does

DHM Research is an independent, nonpartisan opinion research and consulting firm founded in Portland in 1977 (the firmographics record lists a 1994 incorporation date, but the company's own website copy and historical timeline consistently reference 1977). The firm delivers custom qualitative and quantitative research — including telephone surveys, online surveys, mail surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, and program/policy evaluation — to government agencies, public utilities, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, civic groups, and business associations. Its core geographic focus is the West Coast (Oregon, Washington, and California), with growing national reach through partnerships such as The Eastern Transportation Coalition (17 states plus Washington D.C.) and the first-of-its-kind National Policing Survey with ReputationUs in 2026.

DHM's service delivery rests on a proprietary multi-mode survey infrastructure: a browser-based polling platform accessible from any device with complex skip patterns, customized responses, heat mapping, and image-based questions for respondents with limited English proficiency, integrated with live-interviewer telephone operations and a text-to-web hybrid. The firm maintains multilingual capability across the top 14 languages spoken in a given region and operates a recurring public-opinion panel, DHM Pulse Data, tracking California, Oregon, and Washington residents on topics including AI, education, energy, transportation, healthcare, and voter priorities, with toplines and crosstabs published openly. Three regional offices (Lake Oswego/Portland, OR; Seattle, WA; Sacramento, CA) anchor field operations.

The firm is privately held as DHM Research, LLC, with no disclosed parent, investors, or funding rounds. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services engagements that are custom-scoped and quoted on a per-project basis, with multi-year and multi-decade client relationships — including Northwest RiverPartners (~15 years), Oregon Forest Resources Institute, Seattle City Light, and the Portland Metro Chamber — forming the durable revenue base. Marketing and lead generation are driven by thought leadership: an active Insights blog, the DHM Pulse Data transparency program, an email newsletter, organic LinkedIn presence, and PR/earned media via senior team members.

Name

Dhm Research

Legal name

DHM Research, LLC

Website

https://dhmresearch.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

DHM Research is an independent, nonpartisan opinion research firm founded in 1977, delivering custom qualitative and quantitative research — surveys, focus groups, and program evaluation — to government agencies, public utilities, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits primarily on the U.S. West Coast with growing national reach.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Syndicated Market Research (Panels, Omnibus, Tracker Studies) (MPAAALAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE)

Keywords

• Opinion research
• Public opinion polling
• Market research services
• Program evaluation
• Focus group research

Headquarters

HQ city

Lake Oswego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Research Project Fees: Primary revenue stream. Clients (government agencies, utilities, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, civic groups) commission bespoke qualitative and quantitative research projects on a project basis. Engagements are scoped to specific needs (surveys, focus groups, program evaluation, polling, messaging research, policy review) and quoted per project. Multi-year partnerships exist (e.g., Northwest RiverPartners nearly 15 years, OFRI multi-year, TETC ongoing, Seattle City Light benchmark surveys in 2021, 2023, 2025).
2. Strategic Partner Co-Delivery: Revenue generated through joint engagements with strategic partners such as communication agencies, public affairs firms, and consulting firms. Example: collaboration with ReputationUs on the National Policing Survey.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DHM Research is an independent, nonpartisan opinion research firm that delivers custom qualitative and quantitative research for government agencies, public utilities, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, and business associations. Its offering combines telephone, online, and mail surveys; focus groups and in-depth interviews; and program/policy evaluation, all integrated under a custom research design capability. The firm also maintains the recurring DHM Pulse Data panel tracking public opinion across California, Oregon, and Washington.

Product overview

DHM Research is an independent, nonpartisan opinion research firm (founded in Portland in 1977) that delivers a single integrated services portfolio rather than a discrete packaged software product. Its core offering comprises three parallel service pillars — Quantitative Research (Telephone Surveys, Online Surveys, Mail Surveys), Qualitative Research (Focus Groups, In-Depth Interviews), and Program Evaluation and Data Analysis (Program and Policy Evaluation, Community-Driven Needs Assessment, Administrative Data Analysis) — all unified under a Custom Research Design capability that selects and combines methodologies for each client engagement. Layered on top of the services portfolio is the recurring DHM Pulse Data panel product (California, Oregon, and Washington), supplemented by the DHM Research Insights blog that publishes analysis drawn from this research.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Quantitative Research Time-tested quantitative research methods using surveys (telephone, online, and mail) to track trends over time or across geography, with a focus on statistical reliability. For government agencies, public utilities, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits that need representative, statistically reliable data.
• Qualitative Research In-depth qualitative methods, including individual interviews and focus groups, led by experienced research professionals to draw out authentic participant perspectives. For organizations needing deep context, content analysis, strategic planning input, or policy development insights.
• Program Evaluation and Data Analysis Data-driven evaluation of programs and policies combining expertise in causal inference, community-based participatory research, and administrative data analysis. Includes program and policy evaluation, community-driven needs assessment, and administrative data analysis. For clients needing evidence-informed decisions and program/policy evaluation.
• Custom Research Design Project-specific research strategy that combines methodologies (Mixed Methodology) and analytical interpretation to meet each client's distinct needs and constraints. Unifies all DHM service offerings under a single bespoke engagement.
• DHM Pulse Data Recurring panel surveys tracking California, Oregon, and Washington residents on economics, education, public health, transportation, and more, with publicly released toplines and crosstabs. Provides clients with comparable, longitudinal public opinion data across the West Coast.

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core strategic partner, core strategic partner / flagship client, recurring annual partner, long-term flagship partner, long-term recurring partner, programmatic partner channel and minor (governance/community).

• ReputationUs (RepUs)core strategic partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerReputationUs is a global reputation enhancement and crisis management firm that partnered with DHM Research on the first-of-its-kind National Policing Survey in Spring 2026. The partnership combined RepUs' communications and crisis expertise with DHM's research capabilities to assess Americans' views on policing, communications, distinctions between local and federal police, the police as a profession, and the role of AI in policing. Quote from Casey Boggs (Chief Reputation Officer at RepUs) included in the case study.
• The Eastern Transportation Coalition (TETC)core strategic partner / flagship clientStrategic or Co-development PartnerTETC is a coalition of 17 states and Washington D.C. evaluating alternatives to the gas tax (MBUF, managed lanes, EV RUC). DHM has executed surveys and focus groups across multiple eastern states including Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, and Delaware, covering public perceptions of transportation funding, awareness/attitudes toward gas taxes and alternatives, and communication strategies. The partnership was active in early April 2026 with a national MBUF survey.
• Portland Metro Chamberrecurring annual partnerGTM or Marketing PartnerAnnual partnership since at least 2024 for the regional economic sentiment survey. In late 2025, DHM conducted a mixed-mode survey of 600 registered voters in the tri-county region. SVP John Horvick led discussion of results at the Chamber's annual State of the Electorate Breakfast Forum. The Chamber uses the insights to advocate for policy changes in the Portland Metro area.
• Northwest RiverPartnerslong-term flagship partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerDecade-long partnership since 2011 to measure sentiment around hydropower in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho (Montana added in 2024). 2024 survey sampled 1,600 residents and found 77% regional support for hydropower. The research informs Northwest RiverPartners' communication strategy with policymakers and stakeholders.
• Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI)long-term recurring partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-year collaboration spanning the full lifecycle of OFRI's public education campaigns: pre-launch concept testing of messaging/visuals/themes plus post-launch statewide surveys measuring ad recall, message comprehension, and shifts in public knowledge on forest management, sustainability, and replanting.
• Strategic Communications / Public Affairs Partner Networkprogrammatic partner channelChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDHM Research explicitly partners with 'exceptional communication agencies, public affairs firms, consulting firms and others' to extend reach and help clients turn research insights into action through additional guidance on awareness, values, beliefs, and messaging. Listed under 'Strategic Partners' on the Services page.
• Healthy Democracyminor (governance/community)Strategic or Co-development PartnerSVP John Horvick serves as board chair for Healthy Democracy, a nonprofit dedicated to inclusive public engagement. Tony Iaccarino previously served as Policy & Projects Director for Healthy Democracy. The relationship is governance/community-based rather than a commercial engagement.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos Public Affairs: Global market and public opinion research incumbent with a dedicated Public Affairs practice serving government, utilities, and policy clients worldwide. Comparable in service portfolio and methodology but at vastly greater scale and geographic reach.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: Independent research organization with deep public opinion and policy research capabilities serving federal agencies and major foundations. Comparable in methodological rigor and public-sector orientation; much larger scale and academic positioning.
• SSRS: Large survey research firm serving news organizations, academic institutions, foundations, and government agencies with multi-mode survey infrastructure. Overlaps DHM in public-affairs methodology at a meaningfully larger scale.

Emerging players

• Morning Consult: Data intelligence company combining high-frequency public opinion polling with a syndicated data product. Overlaps DHM on policy/political opinion research and on the Pulse-like model of publishing recurring wave data, but at much larger scale and via a tech-enabled platform.
• Civiqs: Online public opinion polling firm focused on U.S. state-level and national political surveys, with published polling widely used by media. Comparable to DHM on opinion research scope and public data publishing, but operates a substantially different online panel-based model.

Direct peers

• FM3 Research: California-based public opinion research firm focused on ballot measures, public agencies, utilities, and nonprofits across the West Coast. Highly comparable to DHM on customer segment, methodology mix (survey + focus groups), and regional concentration.
• Lake Research Partners: National public opinion and survey research firm serving progressive-leaning foundations, advocacy groups, and public-sector clients. Comparable on methodology, customer mix (nonprofit + public sector), and multilingual capability.
• Moore Information: Portland, Oregon-headquartered opinion research firm with a West Coast client base spanning political campaigns, public affairs, and corporate clients. Closest geographic direct peer to DHM.
• Strategies 360: Pacific Northwest-based public affairs and opinion research firm serving government, nonprofit, and corporate clients. Competes directly with DHM in WA/OR for polling and policy research engagements.
• Goodwin Simon Strategic Research (formerly EMC Research): West Coast-based public opinion and strategic research firm focused on ballot measures, public agencies, healthcare, and education. Highly comparable on customer vertical, methodology, and regional presence.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DHMresearch

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dhm Research