Funder Listening

Have you seen funder listening in action?

Share your stories to demonstrate what’s possible when grantmakers listen to the people and communities most impacted by their decisions.

Five minutes of your time can Lift Up Listening!

Please tell us about your listening efforts or a positive example you’ve seen in the field. Just one or two-sentence answers to the questions below will help shape a narrative showing what listening well looks like in practice and why it’s a good idea for philanthropy and the people and communities we seek to serve.

Don’t worry about having every detail; just tell us what you can, and we’ll go from there together. Or jump down to fill in the contact info and we’ll talk it out.

What happened? (who is the lead character/organization, and what was the action taken?)

How did it happen? (What are the details of the process or practice undertaken?)

What was the outcome? (What changed/what’s new as a result?)

First Name

Last Name

Organization

Email address

SAMPLE STORY

A funder listens and learns on its journey toward participatory grantmaking

When ACT for Alexandria set out to establish a fund with a participatory-grantmaking approach, community leaders signaled that the foundation did not yet have the track record or trust necessary for such an effort.

In response, ACT slowed the fund’s timeline, prioritizing community voice and relationship-building, while also executing a community-centered strategic planning process for the whole foundation. That process led ACT back to its plans for a participatory-grantmaking fund when Alexandrians on the strategy team agreed to lead the work by joining the fund’s new community advisory board.

Heather Peeler
President and Chief Executive Officer, ACT for Alexandria

What we plan to do with all the stories

Stories inspire people to act. The stories gathered here will provide valuable context, illustrate and affirm values, and inspire and support funders in their journeys towards listening well.

Once you fill out the form, one of us from Shared Insight will reach out to the contact provided to clarify the details, get consent, and decide together the best way to build and share the story. Maybe we feature it on our Funder Listening Action Menu, create a case study or viewpoint about it for our blog, Insights for Change, or highlight it on social media.

Thanks for working with us to Lift Up Listening!

Have questions?

We’d like to hear from you. Your thoughts and questions are important to this process. To learn more or to provide insights, please contact us at stories@fundforsharedinsight.org.