In part one of this blog post, we shared the humbling results of the Overdeck Family Foundation’s 2019 Grantee Perception Report, as well as how the Foundation came together to process that data and formulate a plan to move forward. We suggest you read part one before diving into this post, where we share the action that followed that 2019 assessment as well as our most recent GPR results — a measure of the success of our actions.

Taking Action

With a deep understanding of our results and a shared desire to learn better, together, we identified three priorities and the resources it would take to address these key areas, including time, people, and funding. Highlighted below are some of the specific actions we took to address these top priorities.

Priority 1: Clarify the Foundation’s Goals and Strategy

To improve the clarity of our goals and strategies, we took a multi-pronged approach. First, with our trustees, we clarified our funding model and strategy to align on what we were trying to achieve, how we were going to achieve it, and how we would assess impact.

Priority 2: Providing More Non-Monetary Assistance

In light of our low scores on the impact we have on grantee partners, we prioritized non-monetary support in our updated funding model and revamped program staff time to encourage deeper and more frequent connection with grantees.

Priority 3: Improving our Grantmaking Process

To improve our grantmaking processes, we assembled a cross-functional team dedicated to reviewing best practices from other funders to see what works and what we could borrow and use (thank you to Arbor Brothers and Echoing Green)! Using that research, we redesigned all grantmaking documents, from due diligence and selection to reporting and monitoring, to align with our revamped funding model.

Read the full article about positive action by Anu Malipatil and Jon Sotsky at The Center for Effective Philanthropy.