Over the past decade, listening and feedback practices have become more prevalent among nonprofits and foundations to strengthen the outcomes and benefits to the people and communities they support. This list of resources, insights, and toolkits is for funders and nonprofits aiming to enhance how they collect and act on feedback from their communities.
The Fund for Shared Insight, an effort the Hewlett Foundation has supported for over a decade, focuses on improving funder practices by anchoring on the people and communities at the heart of philanthropic efforts. The Funder Listening Action Menu includes real-life examples of funder practices to support listening. Other toolkits focused on participatory philanthropy and collaborative philanthropy also highlight the role of listening and feedback in structuring funding practices and priorities.
Listen4Good aims to improve nonprofit organizations’ ability to systematically collect and use feedback data to improve outcomes. Check out Feedback 101 to learn more about high-quality structured feedback loops. Listen4Good also offers coaching programs for nonprofits and collaboration with funders.
Feedback Labs supports philanthropy, nonprofits, and other social sector organizations in regularly and systematically applying listening and feedback practices. They focus on building the case for feedback and offering ready-to-apply training and tools for listening. They also hold conferences and host opportunities for social change organizations to gather and problem-solve issues related to feedback processes.
Youth Truth provides insights from youth perspectives, aiming to bring the voices of young people into the decision-making processes of social change organizations. Hosted by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), Youth Truth offers advisory and survey services. Their resource library shares insights from past client work on issues ranging from civic empowerment in school settings to youth emotional and mental health.
The Center for Effective Philanthropy also administers the Grantee Perception Report, which helps funders understand how their grantees experience funder interactions and the impact on grantees’ fields and work. By collecting feedback from grantees and comparing ratings to benchmark data collected by CEP, funders can identify strengths and areas for improvement, making strategic adjustments to their funding practices.
