The latest from Listen4Good
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MAY 2023
Listen4Good Launches As An Independent Initiative
As many of us have experienced, organizations tend to reach different milestones in their evolution that necessitate shifts in structure, approach, and support to enable them to thrive. Here at Listen4Good, we’ve reached one of those exciting growth moments. As described in the recent blog post by Melinda Tuan, managing director of Fund for Shared Insight, effective May 2023, Listen4Good has spun out of Fund for Shared Insight and become an independent initiative with fiscal sponsorship from the Tides Center.
It was no small task to make this transition. I, for one, had to learn a lot more about grant transfer processes, AB5, fiscal sponsorship requirements, and writing good job descriptions.
"Being independent will enable us to continue to scale our work, increase our impact, and build out a strong organizational infrastructure."
Process overload aside, I am so excited by the potential of our new formation. Being independent will enable us to continue to scale our work, increase our impact, and build out a strong internal organizational infrastructure. This will allow us to effectively support organizations in an even more concerted and ongoing way. It also gives us the space to think about our team’s internal development more holistically than we could before. To that end, in April we hosted an amazing all-team retreat (more to come on that in the next newsletter) and, later this spring, we’ll be exploring more deeply what centering equity means within L4G.
Moving through this shift has also drawn some important parallels with what we do in our work. Specifically, creating a feedback process can be viewed as a purely technical exercise (just as switching fiscal sponsors can be). However, when done well, it’s much more than that. Adding feedback systems and processes must also be embraced as an adaptive challenge and as an opportunity to challenge assumptions, especially the refrain “but we’ve always done it that way.” It creates an opportunity to scrutinize what you ask and how you ‘typically’ collect data. It also generates data that challenges what’s come to be seen as prevailing wisdom internally.
We’re already creating new norms and processes at L4G as a result of this transition. And while daunting, I appreciate that it’s made us pause and question some of the ways we do things. As spring arrives across the country, I’m excited for us to embrace change, fortify our root structure, and prepare ourselves for continued growth.
Heartfelt thanks to Fund for Shared Insight for their past and continued support. Stay tuned to see what our future holds!
A Warm Send-Off
When we told some of our longtime partners about our launch to become a standalone organization, we were touched to receive a slew of personalized video cards in response. While we could not feature all of the clips sent, we compiled a condensed reel to share with you here. We hope you enjoy it!
This 1-minute reel includes the Barr Foundation, South Carolina First Steps, Birmingham Talks, Pace Center for Girls, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, SurveyMonkey, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Fund for Shared Insight, and Dayspring Partners.
Thanks to all of them and to all of you for your good wishes - it means the world to us!
WATCH: Congratulations video
Time's Running Out - Registration Closes June 1!
If you're eyeing up a new grant opportunity or thinking about new programs to launch, how can you set your organization up for success?
Feedback can help you knock it out of the park!
Register for our next feedback program by June 1 and you'll be off and running in July. Best of all, you won't be alone. You'll have your very own feedback coach, along with the company of 100 organizations across the country embarking on the same journey with you.
Over the couse of 18 months, you'll receive:
- 1:1 coaching
- A premium version of the SurveyMonkey tool with data visualizations to help you interpret your results
- In-depth training webinars
- Exclusive access to our web app with a rich resource library
- A vibrant peer community that includes both learning & social time
There's no reason to DIY it or spend money on an expensive consultant when Listen4Good is here! We can even help you find a funder to sponsor your participation - schedule a call with us to ask us how.
Learn more: join one of our free informational webinars or schedule a time to talk to a Listen4Good team member.
Spotlight on Community
If you're a current participant, you've joined our Community, which is filled with peers on the same feedback journey with you. We recently started experimenting with Meet and Greets as well to help all of you build social connections with each other in addition to the webinar learnings.
So far, our attendees give them a thumbs up!
Alexis Oviedo, Senior Manager of Product, says, "These sessions are optional but people are really enjoying the opportunity to meet other organizations on the same journey. We're exploring new ways to make them even more engaging!"
If you've attended one of our sessions or have thoughts on how you'd like to engage with your peers, we'd love to hear your ideas.
Drop us a quick note at feedback@listen4good.org!
Closing the Loop: How We Changed Our Approach
You may wonder: "Does Listen4Good use feedback loops on itself?"
We do!
When organizations join Listen4Good, we administer feedback surveys to them throughout their time with us. We regularly collect feedback across multiple L4G cohorts and roll up that data annually to learn what we could be doing better.
In the fifth and final step of the process, we close the loop, sharing what we've learned from that participant feedback, and how we plan to respond to it.
This year, we’re trying a new approach to closing the loop: doing an annual shareback across multiple cohorts’ worth of data. In this post, you can review our new closing the loop message and read more about why we’re making this change.
Michigan Case Study: How to Use Client Feedback to Improve Services
"..[W]e found that there is a big difference between doing surveys internally and working with Listen4Good. With Listen4Good, we received a high level of support and technical assistance from an expert. " - AYA Youth Collective
Why do nonprofits register for Listen4Good's feedback program? And why do funders choose to sponsor their grantees?
In this March Listen4Good Insights post, AYA Youth Collective and its sponsoring funder, the Michigan Health Endowment Fund (The Health Fund), spoke to Listen4Good coach Betina Jean-Louis about their feedback program experiences with Listen4Good.
AYA Youth Collective credits the Listen4Good process and its coach with creating a path for a new program that makes an impact with the youth it serves, while The Health Fund emphasized the importance of supporting its mission in Michigan through its sponsorship.
New Additions To Our Feedback 101 Library
Whether you are curious about feedback or you'd like to brush up on your knowledge, we invite you to vist Feedback 101, our free library hosting primers on the building blocks of feedback and surveys specifically for the social sector.
Read our newest addition on courtesy bias, and be sure to look over the other new additions on Closing the Feedback Loop and Feedback Training as well.
In Closing...
Thank you for continuing on this journey with us. We are grateful for your support to date and excited by what's ahead.
All the best,
Next registration deadline
