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Data Point: Importance of Social Networks to Donors

Friday, October 7th, 2011

The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors, staff members and others—providing insights that enable funders to better define, assess and improve their effectiveness.

 

This data point comes from the Donor Perception Report (DPR), which helps community foundations identify actionable strategies for more effectively engaging their donors. The DPR covers topics such as donor preferences, future giving plans, perceptions of impact on the community, and foundation communications.

The data point shown above results from responses to the following question:

“Please think about your use of online social networks (e.g., Facebook, Twitter). How important to you are these online networks?”

Donors taking this survey were asked to rate on a scale of 1 (Not at all important) to 7 (Extremely important) the importance of online networks. With over 1,500 respondents answering this question, the majority of donors (64%) gave the lowest possible rating to the importance of social networks, with an average rating of 1.9. Only a tiny sliver (2%) felt these networks were extremely important.

Perhaps even more striking, an overwhelming 91% of respondents indicate that they would NOT like to receive information about a foundation’s work over social networks.

Because this question is an optional addition to the standard DPR, results reflect respondents from only thirteen funders.

Readers of this blog post are invited to respond. Do donors really not want to be engaged through online networks or could their minds be changed with more effective social media outreach?

 

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CEP’s work is rooted in the conviction that feedback can play a role promoting change in foundation practice. For a broader look at the role of feedback in philanthropy, see the report, Can Feedback Fuel Change at Foundations? written by Phil Buchanan, Ellie Buteau, Ph.D., and Shahryar Minhas and published by the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

 

Kevin Bolduc is Vice President – Assessment Tools at the Center for Effective Philanthropy

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Posted in Assessment Tools, Constituent Feedback, Data Point, Programming and Communications | 1 Comment »

Data Point: Stakeholders’ Understanding of Foundation Goals and Strategies

Friday, September 30th, 2011

The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors, staff members and others—providing insights that enable funders to better define, assess and improve their effectiveness.  We are posting this series to share our data more broadly and to highlight specific data points.

This week, our data point comes from the Stakeholder Assessment Report (STAR), which surveys the wide range of community leaders, field experts, and decision makers a foundation may wish to influence through its work. The report analyzes information from individuals who generally are not receiving funding but have an important perspective on a funder’s areas of concentration or are otherwise critical to its strategy.

These two charts represent the range of responses stakeholders gave to the following questions, respectively:

“How clearly do you understand the Foundation’s current goals?”

and

“How clearly do you understand the Foundation’s current strategy?”

Most stakeholders indicate more clarity regarding a foundation’s current goals than its current strategies. Even the top of the range of strategy understanding falls below the median response for awareness of a foundation’s goals.

The responses were given on a scale of 1 (Not at all clearly) to 7 (Extremely clearly). With responses from nearly 2,000 stakeholders representing 12 different foundations, we see, on the question of understanding the foundation’s goals, a range of 4.8 to 6.4, with a median of 5.6. On the question of strategy comprehension, the range is between 4.1 and 5.1, with a median of 4.4.

CEP is not the only organization that has noticed this mismatch. Both Spitfire Strategies (in the report From Big Ideas to Big Change) and Putnam Community Investment Consulting (in a report for the California Healthcare Foundation, Improving Communication Between Foundation Staff and Grantees) have offered advice on how funders can bridge this gap with stakeholders.

Readers of this blog post are invited to respond. What can foundations do to more clearly articulate their strategies to various stakeholder groups?

 

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CEP’s work reflects a belief that coherent, well-implemented strategy is a core element of foundation effectiveness. For a broader look at what makes philanthropic leaders more strategic, see the report Essentials of Foundation Strategy written by Phil Buchanan, Ellie Buteau, Ph.D., and Andrea Brock, published by the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

 

Kevin Bolduc is Vice President – Assessment Tools at the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

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Posted in Data Point, Developing Strategy, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Data Point: Talking About Staff Performance

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors, staff members and others—providing insights that enable funders to better define, assess and improve their effectiveness.  We are posting this series to share our data more broadly and to highlight specific data points.

In this case the source is the Staff Perception Report (SPR), which 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.

 

 

The data point shown above comes from responses to the following question:

Was your performance formally reviewed during the last 12 months? Those who answered ‘Yes,’ were then invited to agree or disagree with the following statement: Yes, I had a conversation about my recent performance with my supervisor.

Over 700 foundation staff members responded to this question. Of those, 551 individuals or 76 percent indicated that they had such a conversation, and 170 individuals or 24 percent said they had had no conversation with their supervisor about their performance.

 

Kevin Bolduc is vice president — assessment tools at CEP.

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Posted in Assessment Tools, Data Point, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Data Point: Influencing Donors Who Give to Community Foundations

Friday, September 16th, 2011

The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors, staff members and others—providing insights that enable funders to better define, assess and improve their effectiveness.  We are posting this series to share our data more broadly and to highlight specific data points.

In this case, the source is the Donor Perception Report (DPR), which helps community foundations to better understand donors’ awareness of their organizations’ strengths and future opportunities.

The data point shown above comes from responses to the following question:

Please think about your giving to or through the Foundation over the past 3 years. Rate the importance of each of the following factors in your decision(s) to establish a fund with the Foundation, or to make contributions to the Foundation or to your fund instead of giving to or through other charitable options.

Donors taking this survey were asked to rate on a scale of 1 (Not at all important) to 7 (Extremely important) several elements related to their community foundations, in categories such as leadership and knowledge, finance and administrative services, or reputation and referral network. While the highest rated factor among the over 2,500 donors surveyed was the Foundation’s integrity and trustworthiness, the quality of the Foundation’s staff was the next highest rated factor as shown in this chart. The Foundation’s efforts to connect the respondent to other donors, however, stood on the opposite end of the scale as factor with the lowest rating.

Readers of this blog post are invited to respond. Does this information fit with your expectations about how donors make decisions?

 

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CEP’s work is rooted in the conviction that feedback can play a role promoting change in foundation practice. For a broader look at the role of feedback in philanthropy, see the report, Can Feedback Fuel Change at Foundations? written by Phil Buchanan, Ellie Buteau, Ph.D., and Shahryar Minhas and published by the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

 

Kevin Bolduc is Vice President – Assessment Tools at the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

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Posted in Data Point, Uncategorized | No Comments »

We Get By with a Little Help from Our Friends

Wednesday, April 13th, 2011

At the heart of CEP’s work is the provision of comparative data that allows one funder to understand how aspects of its own performance compare to the other funders. In much of our work, the manifestation of that activity is charts in our reports that display the comparative data. I’d like to ask your advice in making the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP’s) data display stronger.

Here are two examples of the way our charts look now (click on the images to enlarge them).

We’ve tweaked these charts here and there over the past few years, but we still hear from some funders, and in our 3rd party feedback, that these charts can be tough to understand. On the other hand, some of the funders we work with love these for the amount of information they pack into a small space.

We think we can improve these charts. Although any change may not be immediate, we want to brainstorm now some other possibilities.

Fundamentally, any data display we use has to meet just a few basic parameters. It must:

  • be flexible enough to display a potential segmentation of the overall data, display trend data, and (probably) also a sub-group comparison – a cohort from among the full dataset
  • simultaneously display both an absolute scale and relative results (because both are necessary pieces of information in interpreting results)
  • display comparative context so that one funder can consider its relative results compared to our database of others’ results

Keeping with the core CEP values of transparency and feedback, we’d like to enlist your help. The readers of this blog and the users of our tools know CEP’s work well, and I think you probably have some opinions and ideas just waiting to be set free. We’d welcome the advice. (Or a recommendation for a great data visualization expert you might have worked with. This is too small a project for the couple we’ve reached out to.)

So please leave a comment with your idea. Scribble a chart idea, scan it, and upload it to our comments. Point us in the direction of something you think is analogous. Help us generate some ideas about this absolutely critical piece of our work.

What’s in it for you? The knowledge that you aided CEP in its efforts to help foundations become more effective. And, if we choose an idea you suggested, a very public and grateful acknowledgement for your efforts and ideas.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Posted in Assessment Tools | 7 Comments »

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