The Grantee Perception Report®(GPR) is a management tool that provides foundation CEOs, boards, and staff with comparative data on grantee perceptions of their foundation's performance on a variety of dimensions. The GPR has been commissioned by more than 130 foundations, and each has found the report useful in informing management decisions or providing baseline data on the foundation's overall performance. The GPR is based on a comprehensive survey of grantees covering issues such as interactions during the grant, the application and reporting processes, and perceived foundation impact. CEP’s surveys also inform field-wide research on grantee perceptions, such as the research explored in CEP’s reports, Listening to Grantees: What Nonprofits Value in Their Foundation Funders (2004), Foundation Communications: The Grantee Perspective (2006), and In Search of Impact: Practices and Perceptions in Foundations' Provision of Program and Operating Grants to Nonprofits (2006). CEP conducts surveys three times a year in February, June, and September.

CEP is currently preparing for the next round of grantee surveys. Sign up by November 3, 2008, to participate. For information about participating, please contact one of CEP's managers:



Read Published Grantee Perception Reports®

An increasing number of foundations are repeating the GPR in order to gauge progress. Foundations that have made these results public include:

For other GPR excerpts and results, please visit:

Sample Chart


Read About What GPR Subscribers Have to Say

  • The Chronicle of Philanthropy profiled CEP, focusing primarily on the GPR. The article noted that GPRs "have resulted in changes in foundation operations and have fostered a frank dialogue between grant makers and charities, which historically have been wary of speaking out against their supporters for fear of losing money." To read the entire article, click here.


  • Foundations that have received a GPR are making changes on the basis of what they learned, according to a recently released report from LaFrance Associates, LLC (LFA). Actions taken by foundations on the basis of their results range from major changes in grantmaking strategy to improvements in grantmaking processes and communication with grantees.

    The report draws on a survey of GPR subscribers undertaken in early 2007 by LFA. CEP commissioned LFA in 2005 amd again in 2007 to conduct the survey in order to understand how the GPR has been used to gather feedback to guide CEP as it seeks continually to improve the tool.

    To download the entire 2007 report, click here (pdf).


  • The New York Times reported on the experience of GPR subscribers in an April 23, 2004 article. The article noted that the GPR is helping to break down the "code of silence" between nonprofits and foundations. "Foundation executives say one ... beneficial aspect was the survey's ability to show how they compared with peers, something they are unable to learn with their own studies." To read the entire article, click here.

A discount is available for Premium Members of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO).

Foundation Subscribers

For a list of foundations that have commissioned a Grantee Perception Report® from CEP, click here.