Who We Are
Fund for Shared Insight is a national funder collaborative working to improve philanthropy by promoting and supporting ways foundations and nonprofits listen and respond to the people and communities most impacted by the systems and structures we’re seeking to change. We believe those affected by our decisions, but often least consulted, can offer unique and valuable insight into how to bring about lasting, meaningful change that improves lives in ways people define for themselves.
Our work is focused on spreading this message, joining with more partners, and continuing to build both the commitment and capacity around the kind of listening, partnering, and learning that values lived expertise, shifts power, and leads to more equitable outcomes.
All of Shared Insight’s work is centered on the goal of advancing equity.
Fund for Shared Insight Timeline
2013
The White House invites government, philanthropic, and nonprofit leaders to discuss the emerging field of feedback loops.
Interest grows around creating a collaborative supporting openness between and among foundations and grantees and connecting more closely with the people and communities philanthropy intends to serve. The Hewlett Foundation takes the lead in convening small groups of funders around the country to explore options.
July 2014
Rita Allen, Ford, Hewlett, Kellogg, Packard, and the JPB Foundations, along with Liquidnet, pool money and resources to form Fund for Shared Insight.
July 2014
“It’s time to make gathering … feedback routine so that all of us, at both foundations and other nonprofits, reliably consider the perspectives and experiences of those we seek to help,” write Fay Twersky, Hewlett Foundation, and Hilary Pennington, Ford Foundation, in an op-ed for The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
May 2015
Listen4Good (L4G) launches. The new national initiative provides nonprofits tools, resources, and support to create high-quality, client-focused feedback loops that can help improve the way they work, make decisions, deliver services, and relate to the people and communities they serve.
January 2016
Shared Insight is recognized as a Top 10 “Thought Leader” by one of Candid’s predecessor organizations, the Foundation Center.
Shared Insight “is not just another industry group out to improve philanthropy; it is actually made up of philanthropy professionals representing … leading foundations, so the opportunity for peer learning, influence, and momentum building is high.” — Janet Camarena, Foundation Center
February 2016
With the support of 12 co-funders, 19 direct-service nonprofits receive the first Listen4Good grants.
“We are excited that … grantees, through Listen4Good, will now be able to more systematically collect feedback from the young people they serve and augment the outcomes data they already measure.” — Lissette Rodriguez, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
October 2016
Shared Insight joins with the Hewlett Foundation and two special White House offices to host a workshop at the White House to share best practices around client-focused feedback loops in the social sector.
The first Shared Insight Gathering, held in Washington, D.C., brings together 140 funders, grantees, and other participants interested in learning and field-building around feedback.
“Three years after the first White House meeting, we have seen that gathering feedback is not only the right thing to do and the smart thing to do — it is also a feasible thing to do.” — Dennis Whittle, Feedback Labs
November 2017
A report from Harder+Company analyzes more than 29,000 responses to Listen4Good feedback surveys finding evidence that the Net Promoter System works in the nonprofit context and that further analysis is needed.
January 2018
Listen4Good adds 47 grantees supported by 15 co-funders, including one new funder, Sunlight Giving, which nominates 20 nonprofits.
“The insights we gain from this work will strengthen our grantmaking.” — Cheryl Chang, Sunlight Giving
May 2018
The 2018 Shared Insight Gathering, in Houston, brings together more than 350 field-building partners and representatives from nonprofits and funding organizations committed to using feedback loops to better serve their clients.
August 2018
Stanford Social Innovation Review publishes a case study of Shared Insight, “Funding Feedback.”
October 2018
The number of nonprofit clients that have given their feedback through L4G surveys surpasses 100,000.
Stanford Social Innovation Review kicks off a six-month multimedia series, “The Power of Feedback,” supported by the Hewlett Foundation and featuring the hashtag #FeedbackEmpowers. Among the highlights are case studies of Listen4Good-participating organizations, including ECHOS, Nurse-Family Partnership, Our House, and Union Capital Boston, and nonprofit client Shannon Revels talking on a podcast about the importance of feedback.
“This series represents the most comprehensive public discussion around the idea of constituent feedback for the nonprofit sector published to date.” — Michael Gordon Voss, Stanford Social Innovation Review
February 2019
Listen4Good unveils its groundbreaking interactive website and invites organizations to participate in a testing program, L4G Online Beta, in preparation for the site’s full launch.
“Our goal is to make Listen4Good’s proven tools and resources available to any nonprofit or government agency that wants to systematically listen to and respond to the people they serve. L4G Online will be a game-changer in the field of client-focused feedback.” — Valerie Threlfall, Listen4Good
ORS Impact publishes two reports: “Feedback Field Assessment Findings” and “The 2017 L4G Co-Funder Experience.”
Co-funders are changing feedback practices,” and they are “thinking differently about how their grantees and their foundations can benefit from feedback.” — “The 2017 L4G Co-Funder Experience,” ORS Impact
March 2019
Listen4Good goes international: Shared Insight partners with AVPN, a funding network in Asia, to pilot Listen4Good in Singapore and Australia.
April 2019
An Aspen Institute report, “Meaningfully Connecting with Communities in Advocacy and Policy Work,” informs the discussion around broadening feedback efforts in the social sector beyond direct-service organizations.
October 2019
Shared Insight and Feedback Labs collaborate on the #Feedback4Equity communications campaign.
June 2020
Listen4Good Online+, a streamlined L4G program for organizations to build feedback loops with online support and guidance, is introduced for a subsidized fee of $1,000.
November 2021
An ORS Impact report, “Feedback and Equity: Connecting the Dots,” says feedback can inform change that advances equity, and that the act of listening itself influences organizational change.
July 2022
Shared Insight introduces a new blog, Insights for Change, featuring news, updates, case studies, and opinion pieces highlighting how philanthropy and nonprofits advance impact and equity by listening to the people at the heart of their work.
May 2023
Shared Insight unveils its new Participatory Philanthropy Toolkit, a resource to help funders design and implement grantmaking programs that can shift and share power. The toolkit is based on first-hand experiences through Shared Insight’s Participatory Climate Initiative.
September 2023
Shared Insight ushers in a pivotal and final phase of work with a sharpened focus on supporting foundations to make listening standard practice in philanthropy.
December 2023
Shared Insight reframes its international work to focus on encouraging U.S.-based funders to support locally-led development practices around the world.
March 2024
Shared Insight revisits the work of its research grantees, re-emphasizing that the research projects at six nonprofits delivered distinct evidence that establishes gathering high-quality perceptual feedback as a best practice.
July 2024
The number of Listen4Good participating organizations reaches 1,000, underscoring the power of feedback and the ongoing need for feedback capacity-building support for nonprofits. More than 130 funders have sponsored grantees’ participation. Listen4Good launches L4G Advanced, programming for nonprofits to deepen their feedback practice.
