Required Fields on Web Forms

"As a web developer for my company I am getting pressure from staff to make more of the fields on our web forms 'required.' This goes against my better judgment, but I'm struggling to articulate a response. What rationale should we use to decide when fields should be 'required' and when they should not?" -- James Bardwell

Only require information that you absolutely need. People are concerned about online privacy, with the result that the more you require a visitor to fill out, the fewer visitors will bother to complete the form. Which is more important to your company -- fewer completed forms with full information or more completed forms with minimal information? Sometimes corporate executives don't clearly understand the trade-off. A customer-friendly approach to gain more information about online visitors might be to administer an occasional optional survey with a special bonus for those who complete it.