Listening at the heart of our work
More and more nonprofits are listening to the people and communities they serve and acting on what they hear. Through systematic feedback loops, participatory processes, and other ways of listening well, they are gathering vital insights and using them to improve programs and services — shifting and sharing power and becoming true partners with their communities.
It’s time for philanthropy to catch up.
Listening well means using simple yet systematic and pervasive methods to listen and respond to the people and communities most impacted by your work. It means listening on an ongoing basis, deeply and with intention to the voices of those historically marginalized by systemic racism and other intersectional structural inequities and least consulted by philanthropy and nonprofits. Listening well starts with open ears, hearts, and minds, and a willingness to respond, shifting and changing based on what you hear. This kind of high-quality listening includes a robust feedback loop rooted in authentic partnerships between funders, nonprofits, and people and communities with lived experience and expertise. Together, you share and make sense of information, and, ultimately, act on it.
Done right, listening can lead your organization to meaningful improvements in programs, services, strategies, operations, and organizational structures and culture; build trust and accountability with the people and communities at the heart of your work; and advance equity by shifting and sharing power.
What’s your next step toward listening?
To help make listening, responding, and shifting power the expected standard at your organization and throughout the sector, we offer:
A suite of tools designed to inspire and inform your next moves, no matter where you are on your journey to add listening to the many dimensions of your work
An expanding library of news, viewpoints, case studies, evaluations, and research highlighting how philanthropy and nonprofits advance impact and equity by listening to the people at the heart of their work
Direct and customized training, presentations, one-on-one coaching, and other supports to develop your practices around listening, feedback, and participation
