The Center for Effective Philanthropy

The link between foundations and grantees is of critical importance to ensure that foundations achieve impact. While much work and theorizing has been done on the key attributes of effective foundation–grantee relationships, most of it has been informed by speculation regarding what nonprofit grantees value. CEP has sought to provide insights to foundation leaders based on rigorously collected, large-scale data gathered from foundation grantees.

At this point, CEP has collected data from thousands of grantees of nearly 150 foundations – foundations that span a range of types, programmatic focuses, geographic focuses, asset sizes, and several other demographic attributes. Click here to learn more about our data set.

Our data collection is ongoing, as we seek to:

Expand the breadth of our data to provide comprehensive, rigorous research
Provide individual foundation subscribers with Grantee Perception Reports,^® which are fee-for-service assessment tools that allow foundations to understand their performance – from the grantee viewpoint – on a comparative basis

Research based on our grantee-perception data include:

Listening to Grantees: What Nonprofits Value in Their Foundation Funders (2004), which describes the three dimensions of foundation performance that are of most significance to nonprofit grantees and outlines key implications for foundation boards, CEOs, senior leaders, and program officers
Foundation Communica tions: The Grantee Perspective (2006), which reveals the key components of effective foundation communications with grantees and argues for a more holistic approach to foundation communications than is often practiced today
In Search of Impact: Practices and Perceptions in Foundations’ Provision of Program and Operating Grants to Nonprofits (2006), which informs the debate on operating support with new data about current foundation practices, attitudes underlying those practices, and the impact on grantees of foundation choices
“Luck of the Draw,” an article the Spring 2007 issue of Stanford Social Innovation Review, which details how grantee experiences are affected by differences in the quality of program officers, even within a single foundation, and discusses how foundation leaders might best support improved program-officer performance

CEP continues to explore various aspects of the foundation–grantee relationship. We are currently conducting a study to understand better foundations’ provision of assistance beyond the grant check. What is the range of foundation approaches to providing nonmonetary assistance? What characterizes effective and ineffective efforts to provide such assistance? What do grantees most value in terms of assistance beyond the grant check?

For more information about our research on foundation–grantee relationships, please contact Vice President – Research Lisa R. Jackson, PhD. For more information about the Grantee Perception Report, please contact Manager John Davidson.