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Listening Carefully: An Argument for Considering All the Data

The Center for Effective Philanthropy May 15, 2018
This article is deemed a must-read by one or more of our expert collaborators.
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Giving Compass’ Take:

• The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s Kevin Bolduc writes about the importance of listening to all constituents — not just the most vocal — when it comes to making key decisions in philanthropy.

• Is your organization doing enough to promote the voices of those who don’t always speak up? Is data collection reflective of all grantees’ needs? This piece can help many leaders reflect on methodology.

• Here’s how foundations can adapt to be successful.


A few weeks ago, I was chatting with a vice president of a foundation that my organization, the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), has worked with over the course of many years. As we caught up, she interjected, “Remember the time that you were presenting the results of our first grantee survey and you shared a grantee comment that called our processes ‘onerous’ and ‘meddling?’”

I did remember: it was challenging feedback made by a clearly angry recipient of the foundation’s funding. This vice president’s comment, though, took me by surprise. It had been years ago, and we’d worked with her on other grantee surveys in the time since then …

Still, she got me thinking about who it is that gets heard by funders. In an increasingly crowded conversation, issues of voice and power play out in subtle ways. Is it only the squeakiest wheel — the most disgruntled grantee — that gets heard? Only the loudest thank you? Does the quieter common experience get lost?

This dynamic is a challenge not only in the use of feedback in philanthropy but also in the sharing of ideas and information. In a world of information overload, whose ideas break through? The most powerful voice? The most compelling presentation? The newest idea?

Given these dynamics — and they exist well beyond philanthropy, too — it’s incumbent on all of us to ensure we’re attentive to not just the loudest voices. Those that might otherwise go unheard often provide crucial insight about where and how we should choose to act.

Read the full article about why foundations should consider all the data by Kevin Bolduc at cep.org.

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Since you are interested in Impact Philanthropy, have you read these selections from Giving Compass related to impact giving and Impact Philanthropy?

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    One of the reasons that nonprofits, especially health and human service organizations, have to turn away people is that there is a persistent myth that somehow, and for some unknown reason, non-profits don’t need profits, that they don’t need to pay their people, invest in systems, or put money aside for the future. And this archaic, unproven, and inherently illogical myth is a direct consequence of the culture of scarcity that has plagued the sector for decades. Nonprofits are afraid of losing funding, program officers are afraid of looking foolish, donors are afraid of wasting their money, boards are afraid of being seen as ineffective. We need to change how we think. We must embrace a sustainability mindset, an impact mindset, and unleash the potential of social sector organizations to ensure that no one is ever denied access to a safe shelter or a warm meal or medical care or a hand up the ladder of economic opportunity. We must own our possibilities and our vision of a more just and equitable world. Read the source article at blog.boardsource.org


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