Questions About (and Resources for) Conducting an Assessment: A Foundation's Perspective

[TRASI]

We recently came across a posting on the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) list by Joann Ricci, vp of organizational effectiveness at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, which she is letting us share here:

The Greater New Orleans Foundation, as part of our improvement process, intends to engage key stakeholders (grantees, donors, professional advisors, etc.) around a series of yet to be identified questions about our services. Our end goal is to gather data around “how can we do our work better?” I will be working with each department to identify a set of core questions for them (and then develop overall foundation satisfaction questions) and from that, figure out best methodologies given our constraints.

We wish we had the resources to engage an external provider to conduct this assessment, however, at this time, we think we will manage and implement most of the work internally.

I wonder if any of you have undertaken a similar process, and what counsel and advice you might offer? What lessons have you learned about design and implementation of a customer satisfaction project (whether conducted by you all or by an outside firm)? What did you wish you knew before you started?

 

We responded to Joann's request with a curated list of tools and resources from TRASI that we hope are a good starting point for this kind of investigation. We are listing them below so you too can access this information.  

 

1. Grantee Perception Report by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Beyond grantee perception reports, they also have staff, beneficiary, and stakeholder reports.

2. Comparative Constituency Feedback by Keystone Accountability

They also have a free app for surveying stakeholders.

3. Organizational Assessment Tool by Innovation Network

While this is for nonprofits, it applies to foundations as well.

4. A Practical Guide for Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Evaluatio... by FSG Social Impact Advisors

A terrific guide to developing questions - includes worksheets.

5. A Guide to Actionable Measurement by the Gates Foundation

While not directly about client satisfaction, this is good for general reading.

6. Charting Impact by BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Independent Sector, and GuideStar

This tool nails the 5 key questions every organization needs to consider.

 

Is your organization undertaking a similar improvement process? Do you have input for Joann, lessons learned you would like to share, or further questions? Leave us a comment!