Fund for Shared Insight kicks off the summer with three pieces of exciting news about its pioneering and collaborative efforts to foster a dynamic, sustainable culture of feedback in the social sector:
- Shared Insight has selected nearly 200 organizations to participate in Listen4Good (L4G) Online Beta, a program to test its new, interactive, feedback-loop-building website.
- The submission period is now open for nonprofits to apply for the next round of co-funded L4G grants. Applications are due Sept. 20, 2019.
- Two recent op-eds in major philanthropy outlets discuss the Aspen Institute report commissioned by Shared Insight to help explore ways to expand listening and feedback to advocacy and policy work.
Nearly 200 Organizations Selected to Test New Listen4Good Web App
Shared Insight has approved 192 organizations to participate in Listen4Good Online Beta, a program to test its groundbreaking L4G web app expected to be launched more broadly next year. The selected organizations are spread out over 35 states and one U.S. territory; 181 are nonprofits and 11 are government agencies. They work in a variety of sectors including human services, education, health, and community development.
Each beta-testing participant will receive a $5,000 honorarium; paid access to a premium SurveyMonkey account; and unlimited access to the new interactive website, which 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. The app features a rich array of materials — including step-by-step guides, video tutorials, and peer resources — to move users through a proven five-step process to design and implement high-quality, client-focused feedback loops.
Shared Insight’s goal is to spend the coming months learning and experimenting along with L4G Online Beta participants, ultimately creating a sustainable, high-impact, easy-to-use, and widely available online feedback product.
Listen4Good Co-Funded Grant Opportunity
Shared Insight has started accepting applications for the next Listen4Good co-funded grant round. Submissions are due by Sept. 20, 2019, at 11:59 pm Pacific time.
L4G supports customer-facing nonprofits — across issue areas, communities, and budget sizes — as they build high-quality feedback loops with their clients. L4G’s survey methodology offers a simple, yet systematic and rigorous way to listen to, and respond to, the people nonprofits seek to serve. To participate in L4G’s co-funded grant round, a nonprofit must be nominated by a current funder (existing or new). Nominating funders will contribute $15,000 to Shared Insight for each nonprofit selected to participate. Shared Insight will match the money and grantees will receive $30,000 for an 18-month grant period.
Funders, see more information here; nonprofits, here.
Connecting with Communities in Advocacy and Policy Work
Two recent op-eds by Shared Insight core funder representatives encourage nonprofits and foundations to read and respond to the recent landscape scan, “Meaningfully Connecting with Communities in Advocacy and Policy Work,” prepared for Shared Insight by the Aspen Institute’s Planning and Evaluation Program:
- “Using Feedback to Inform Policy and Advocacy Work,” by Linda Baker of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation on the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s blog.
- “Why Foundations Should Connect Policy Groups to the People They Seek to Help,” by Betsy Krebs of The JPB Foundation on the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s website.
The Aspen report describes whether and how U.S. funders and nonprofits focused on advocacy and policy seek to connect with the people their work is intended to benefit. Shared Insight is looking to it as it considers ways to expand its listening and feedback work beyond organizations that directly serve clients.
Please feel free to contact Fund for Shared Insight with comments, questions, or ideas. And don’t forget to subscribe (link below) to Shared Insight’s newsletter to stay on top of all the news.
