Foundations Urged to Upgrade Communications Efforts

By Ian Wilhelm

Charity officials give high marks to foundations that make sure their Web sites, literature, and staff members provide consistent information about their philanthropic goals and programs, says a new report on how grant makers communicate.

Such consistency is the best predictor that a charity will say a foundation communicates well, says the report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a nonprofit research group in Cambridge, Mass.

According to the center, charities say program officers often describe grant guidelines in ways that are at odds with a foundation's written descriptions online or in print.

The report is based on surveys the center has conducted of almost 17,000 charities since 2002. Besides communications, the surveys, known as Grantee Perception Reports, examine foundation effectiveness and allow respondents to rank their philanthropic supporters compared to other funds.

Clear Information

The center says that grant recipients view clarity of communications as a major factor in whether a foundation is considered satisfactory.

On a scale of 1 to 7, the median ranking for foundation communications is 5.7, based on the 142 foundations the center has examined.

In addition to consistency, the center says clear communication hinges on the responsiveness of staff members to grant recipients' problems and how helpful foundations are in explaining how they select grantees and evaluate their performance.

To improve their communications with beneficiaries, the Center for Effective Philanthropy says philanthropies should make clear communication a responsibility of all employees, not just program officers, and should be as specific as possible in their grant-making guidelines.

While the report says the findings and recommendations may seem "intuitive," it encourages grant makers to take a "more holistic approach to communications" than they have done traditionally.

The report, "Foundation Communications: The Grantee Perspective," is available free from the Center for Effective Philanthropy's Web site. Paper copies can be obtained for $12 each by contacting Alyse d'Amico at (617) 492-0800, ext. 206, or via email.

Reprinted with the permission of The Chronicle of Philanthropy, http://philanthropy.com.