“What do you need?” It may be one of the simple questions a funder can ask, and one of the most transformative. In this moment, that question carries new urgency. Across our communities, nonprofits are under real strain, taking on more risk and doing more with fewer resources. Philanthropy is being called to respond with listen as a form of leadership. The question isn’t whether to act, but how.

For us, that answer began with a simple practice. What started as a staff effort to better understand community needs has reshaped how we show up as a foundation. Today, our board is asking: What are we hearing from grantees when we listen as a form of leadership? What should that mean for our decisions?

That practice has shifted how we engage. We see nonprofit leaders not just as applicants or grant recipients, but as civic leaders, changemakers, and stewards of their communities. Through listening, a deeper understanding has taken shape, and with it, our role has expanded from a due diligence function to a resource partner in a shared mission.

At the same time, listening on its own isn’t enough. For it to inform decisions in a meaningful and practical way, it has to be grounded in clarity—about who we are as a funder, what we stand for, and the focus and priorities that drive our work.

Listening as a Practice, Not a Lunch Meeting

We didn’t arrive at this approach overnight. Listening required us to slow down and change how we show up with grantees—not as gatekeepers of funding, but as partners navigating complex, fast-changing realities.

Rather than assuming we knew what our partners needed, we let nonprofits lead the conversation and asked simple, open-ended questions:

  • What would be helpful right now?
  • What’s getting in the way?
  • What would accelerate or deepen your work?

What we heard was consistent. Many nonprofit leaders are navigating more than funding gaps: they’re managing capacity constraints, leadership transitions, increased risks, and rising expectations around technology and data.

Read the full article about listening as leadership by Lauren Scott at Exponent Philanthropy.