This post is the first of a three-part blog series that builds on the findings of a recent Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) publication, “Partnering for Progress: Grantee Recommendations for Europe-Based Funders.” The report centers grantee feedback, examining grantees’ perceptions of and recommendations for their funders who are based in Europe and finds that three main issues are top of mind for them:

  • They are asking for their funders to invest in building deeper relationships with them.
  • They report that in many cases application and reporting processes by their European funders are burdensome and they call for further streamlining and simplification.
  • They praise the benefits of flexible and unrestricted funding as well as funders’ useful assistance beyond the grant, and are asking for more support of this kind.

In this blog series, we are sharing three profiles of funders who are amongst the higher rated Europe-based funders in CEP’s Grantee Perception Report dataset and who have been implementing approaches and practices that directly address some or all of the three above-mentioned grantee suggestions.

Paul Hamlyn Foundation has a long-standing commitment to listening to grantees and declined applicants and acting on what it learns. Through formal and informal listening approaches, the Foundation’s staff seek to create feedback loops that, in the words of Head of Evidence and Learning Kirsty Gillan-Thomas, “carefully consider power dynamics” and “navigate them in a way that’s as thoughtful as possible and is going to give permission and space for the honesty needed in order to get the quality of feedback you need.”

Over time, Paul Hamlyn Foundation has used feedback from nonprofits1 to improve in many areas of its work, with particular improvements in the helpfulness and streamlining of its application process.

Read the full article about centering grantee feedback by Natalia Kiryttopoulou at The Center for Effective Philanthropy.