Three Ways Grant Makers Can Improve Communications

By M.J. Prest
Senior Editor, Solutions

June 1, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute

Foundation Communications: The Grantee Perspective, by Judy Huang, identifies three effective ways foundations can convey their goals and strategies to the nonprofit organizations they support. Analyzing three years of data from nearly 17,000 grantees of 142 foundations, the report suggests that foundation officials must provide consistent information about their institution’s giving priorities, make sure that all staff members understand the importance of responding receptively to grantee concerns, and clarify selection and evaluation processes to help grant applicants. The solution isn’t always to hire a communications officer, the report says, but to improve how staff members deal with grantees to ensure that they are accomplishing what the grant maker wants.

Publisher: Center for Effective Philanthropy, 678 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 903, Cambridge, Mass. 02139; (617) 492-0800, ext. 206; fax (617) 492-0888; info@effectivephilanthropy.com; http://www.effectivephilanthropy.com; 32 pages; $12 for hard copy or free for download on the organization’s Web site.

About the Author

M.J. Prest

Senior Editor, Solutions

M.J. Prest is senior editor for solutions at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, where she highlights how nonprofit leaders navigate and overcome major challenges. She has covered stories on big gifts, grant making, and executive moves for the Chronicle since 2004. Her work has also appeared in the Washington Post, Slate.com, and the Huffington Post, and she wrote the young-adult novel Immersion. M.J. graduated from Williams College and after living in many different places, she settled in New England with her husband, two kids, and two rescue dogs.