c

The Staff Perception Report (SPR) explores foundation staff members’ perceptions of foundation effectiveness and job satisfaction on a comparative basis. The SPR is based on a survey specific to foundations that includes questions related to staff members’ impressions of their role in philanthropy, satisfaction with their jobs, their foundation’s impact, and opportunities for foundation improvement. Participating foundations have the opportunity to add a small number of questions specific to each foundation’s needs. In addition to providing participating foundations with comparative data, the staff surveys will help create a broad data set that CEP will use to report on practices and trends in the field.

To read an interview with Doug Kridler, CEO of the Columbus Foundation, about why he decided to commission the Staff Perception Report, and the effects it has had on his organization, click here.

CEP is currently preparing for the next round of staff surveys. Sign up by December 11, 2009, to participate. For information about participating, please contact one of CEP's managers:

Sample Chart



Read What Staff Perception Report Subscribers Have to Say

  • “[The Staff Perception Report] was an opportunity for our senior leadership to set a new agenda for the internal organizational culture,” says Kate Wolford, president, McKnight Foundation in a recent interview with CEP. Wolford engaged the SPR upon taking the reins at McKnight. Click here to read the full interview (pdf).

  • The Staff Perception Report is a highly regarded staff assessment tool and is a catalyst for change within subscriber foundations, according to a report by LaFrance Associates, LLC (LFA). SPR users also report that the tool offers a better way of assessing staff perceptions than other methods they have used in the past. Almost all of the senior personnel interviewed for the study plan to use it again. Foundation leaders interviewed for the report say the following:

    “The Staff Perception Report became the core tool in helping us understand how our employees feel about their work life at the [foundation].”

    “The scores really helped surface a lot of things that were not previously surfaced for our foundation – things that with our new management can be easily addressed or begun to be addressed.”

    “[The SPR] was an extremely worthwhile thing to do. I do hope it becomes a cultural thing at [our foundation].”

    To download the report, click here (pdf).

 

Staff Perception Report Participants

  • Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority
  • Blandin Foundation
  • California Community Foundation
  • California HealthCare Foundation
  • The Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation
  • The Colorado Trust
  • Columbus Foundation and Affliliated Organizations
  • The Commonwealth Fund
  • The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
  • Endowment for Health
  • Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
  • Ford Family Foundation
  • The Gill Foundation
  • The Harvest Foundation
  • The Heinz Endowments
  • The James Irvine Foundation
  • Lumina Foundation for Education
  • The McKnight Foundation
  • New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
  • New York State Health Foundation
  • The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Rockefeller Brothers Fund
  • The Saint Paul Foundation and the Minnesota Community Foundation
  • Silicon Valley Community Foundation
  • Skillman Foundation
  • The Stupski Foundation
  • Surdna Foundation
  • The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

CEP is currently preparing for the next round of staff surveys. Sign up by December 11, 2009, to participate. For information about participating, please contact one of CEP's managers:


to dpr page constituent voice