We Asked Grantees What They Think of Us

In 2006, the Foundation contracted with an independent organization to conduct a survey about what our grantees think of us and to compare those results to more than 140 other foundations across the country.

"We want to know how grantees perceive our role and impact in the community, and our affect on their organizations," said Linda J. Kelly, president. "We are also interested in how we stack up among our peers."

From time to time, the Hartford Foundation has convened "roundtables" of grantees to solicit feedback on how they feel we are doing and what we could do better. "The discussions have been valuable," said Rick Porth, vice president of grantmaking. "But we were always concerned that, with Foundation staff in the room, we may not be hearing the complete story."

The Survey

In a survey conducted by the national Center for Effective Philanthropy, our grantees were asked to rate the Hartford Foundation on a number of variables, including our grant process, our interactions with grantees, and the clarity of our communications.

Surveys were sent to 261 organizations and 180 responded anonymously - for a 69 percent response rate.

"We are very grateful to all those who took the time to complete the survey and provide us with their valuable insights," said Linda.

The responses were aggregated and compared to the responses of more than 19,000 grantees of 142 foundations - including community foundations and private foundations - across the country. The Center produced a 118-page report illustrating how the Hartford Foundation compares to other foundations on each of the dimensions measured.

A summary and a chart of the findings, directly from the report, are below.

Our Response

It was gratifying to learn that our grantees believe that the Hartford Foundation is impacting the community in powerful ways, and that we provide a valuable service to them and to their constituencies. We also learned of some areas where we can improve our processes, and we are striving to do just that.

This independent survey reaffirms to us that our focus on the personal interactions, due diligence and capacity-building for nonprofits is paying off. It also affirms that our grantmaking principles, which have evolved over the years as times and conditions in the nonprofit sector have changed, are enabling us to do good work.