Fund for Shared Insight is pleased to welcome in spring along with you as we continue our work elevating the voices of the people and communities philanthropy intends to serve. To kick off the season, here are some updates:
- The May 10, 2019 deadline for organizations to sign up to receive $5,000 to beta test our new Listen4Good (L4G) interactive website is fast approaching. Please tell your colleagues and networks about this opportunity to jumpstart their own high-quality, client-focused feedback loops.
- Today we release a report that examines how funders and organizations working on advocacy and policy change listen to and forge meaningful connections with the people and communities they seek to help. This landscape scan will help inform the direction of our work as we explore expanding from our focus on direct-service organizations and their funders to promote listening and feedback more broadly.
- We also introduce an inspiring new video that tells the story of how L4G feedback empowers girls at a Florida nonprofit.
Please see below for more details.
Sign-ups for L4G Online Beta Testing Still Open
We continue to accept applications for L4G Online Beta, a program to test our new Listen4Good web app, a groundbreaking interactive website that puts sophisticated customer-service feedback tools in the hands of organizations that want to make meaningful improvements to programs and services based on their clients’ needs and preferences.
In preparation for the web app to be more broadly available in 2020, we are inviting nonprofits and government agencies to apply for a spot in L4G Online Beta. Our goal over the next 18 months is to experiment along with program participants, creating a sustainable, high-impact, and easy-to-use L4G product for broad use across the sector. Applications to participate are due May 10, 2019.
Accepted organizations will receive a $5,000 honorarium; paid access to a premium SurveyMonkey account; and unlimited access to the web app, which features a rich array of materials — including step-by-step guides, video tutorials, and peer resources — to independently move them through a proven five-step process to design and implement their own high-quality feedback loops.
For more information or to sign up for one of two remaining L4G Online Beta informational webinars (on April 23, 2019, and May 2, 2019, each at 10 am PT/1 pm ET), please click here. To go right to the L4G Online Beta application, please click here.
Also, stay tuned here for information on the next round of our co-funded L4G grant program, which will be introduced in June. To participate, a nonprofit must be nominated by a current funder (existing or new), which will put up half of a $30,000, 18-month grant. This program includes one-on-one support from an L4G feedback coach and guided interactions between funders and grantees to share learnings and promote meaningful connections.
New Report Considers New Ground for Feedback Efforts
A new report informing Fund for Shared Insight’s nascent efforts to expand its work helping organizations and funders better listen to, respond to, and connect with the people and communities they seek to serve is now available.
Since its start, Listen4Good has focused on helping direct-service organizations build high-quality, client-centered feedback loops that can lead to positive changes in programs, services, and organizational culture. But even as L4G continues to grow, we recognize that the program — with survey work and the Net Promoter System at its core — may be less useful to groups that don’t provide direct services to clients, such as those working on advocacy and policy change. For that reason, we commissioned the Aspen Institute’s Planning and Evaluation Program to conduct a landscape scan, exploring whether and how U.S. funders and nonprofits focused on advocacy and policy seek to meaningfully connect with the people and communities their work is intended to benefit.
The resulting report (found here) will help inform Shared Insight’s grantmaking going forward. We also hope it will contribute to a broader understanding of the role of feedback, listening, and connecting in advocacy and policy-change efforts. Please feel free to connect with us about your impressions and takeaways from the report so that we can learn together about the opportunities and challenges we face as we consider ways to work with more and different types of organizations.
New Video Features Students’ Reactions to L4G Feedback Loops
Please also take a few minutes to watch the latest video in our series highlighting the impact of our feedback work. The video (here) features the Listen4Good experience at Pace Center for Girls, a Florida nonprofit where students say they were surprised, delighted, and felt empowered when the organization listened to and responded to their opinions and preferences.
“You don’t want to feel small,” says Zuri’el, a student at Pace, which serves girls ages 11 through 18 who have experienced physical, mental, or emotional trauma. “I think it’s important to let people know they are heard and significant.”
With this inspiring video; a report exploring possible new avenues for Shared Insight; and sign-ups for L4G Online Beta in full swing, enthusiasm for our work continues to grow. We are so thankful for all of you growing, learning, and listening along with us.
Please feel free to contact us with comments, questions, or ideas. And don’t forget to subscribe (link below) to our newsletter to stay on top of all the news.
