Comments on: More Truth-Telling and Candor?

By: Foundations and Social Media: Fad or Future? « A. Fine Blog

Foundations and Social Media: Fad or Future? « A. Fine Blog — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:15:01 +0000

[...] asked Linda Wood of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund and Elizabeth Miller of the Overbrook Foundation their take [...]

By: Deborah

Deborah — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 22:29:23 +0000

Thank you for raising the issue of “keeping it real”. There were a couple of times that I saw the honestly level in a room of funders and grantees open up after a funder took the lead, in one case saying “we have tried everything and don’t know how to solve this problem” and in another “we don’t know if the money we have invested in this problem has had any impact”. Given the power dynamics mentioned in Cynthia’s comment it is important for funders to model this behavior to help set a tone that invites honest disclosure.

By: Linda

Linda — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:01:34 +0000

Terri, great question. Yes, most of the executive coaches do a “360 assessment” to get the input from board members, staff members and sometimes key community members and other stakeholders on the executive director’s performance in a number of areas. EDs tell us this is incredibly valuable since they do not often get meaningful performance reviews from their boards. The process validates their strengths and points to areas for growth, which are often blind spots for leaders.

By: Tahmina Sultan

Tahmina Sultan — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:08:30 +0000

I agree with Kathleen Enright to build the trusting grantee relationships that allow for candor, and to experiment with ways to see the world through the eyes of those who intend to serve.

By: Terri

Terri — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 23:49:25 +0000

Do you ever ask the staff of the executive directors whom you coach what they feel the issues are with which their exec needs help?

By: Kelley

Kelley — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:55:32 +0000

I’ve experienced both sides of this coin and the partnership approach with foundations is one that works. The first step in being successful in having a transparent funder-grantee partnership is relationship building which can sometimes be undervalued. Built on honesty and a solid relationship base…the partnership can yield sustainable results for the communities that we serve.

By: Cynthia

Cynthia — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:55:46 +0000

This is an important topic and we need to be talking about it more in nonprofits and philanthropy; I especially appreciate the acknowledgment at the end of the power differential between funders and their grantees. Until we are able to talk about the power differences, it will be hard to get true transparency and candor.