You’re looking to improve your skills in Philanthropy. How can feedback help you get there?

If you’re passionate about making a positive difference in the world, you might be interested in developing your skills in philanthropy. Philanthropy is the practice of giving money, time, or other resources to support a cause or a community. But how do you know if you’re doing it well? How can you measure your impact, learn from your mistakes, and improve your strategies? One of the most effective ways to enhance your philanthropic skills is to seek and use feedback.

1 What is feedback?

Feedback is any information that helps you understand how your actions or decisions affect your goals, your beneficiaries, or your stakeholders. Feedback can come from various sources, such as your own observations, surveys, interviews, reports, reviews, or testimonials. Feedback can be positive, negative, or neutral, depending on how it aligns with your expectations, values, or standards. Feedback can also be formal or informal, depending on how it is collected, analyzed, or communicated.

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Joanne Oppelt, MHA, CNE, CDE, CNC

Nonprofit MoneyMaker, Author, Trainer, and Growth Consultant
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Always seek feedback. It helps you benchmark your efforts so that you can measure progress. For best results, rely on information from objective sources as well as subjective ones. And don’t be afraid of hearing something negative. Remember, knowledge is the first step to self improvement.

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2 Why is feedback important?

Feedback is important because it helps you assess your performance, identify your strengths and weaknesses, and learn from your experiences. Feedback can also help you adjust your plans, improve your processes, and innovate your solutions. By using feedback, you can enhance your effectiveness, efficiency, and accountability as a philanthropist. Feedback can also help you build trust, rapport, and collaboration with your beneficiaries, partners, and donors.

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Wendy Joy Oliver

Executive Director l VoLo Foundation | Master's Ed Leadership
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Feedback is a critical avenue for growth and understanding. Just on Saturday night I gave a speech at my organization's annual holiday gala. It was a year in review and I can't find anyone that says anything wrong with it. I know there had to be something wrong and I am willing to listen and learn about how to make improvements. Always be a learner and willing to grow in your professionalism. Hearing feedback can help us improve for the future. It helps us identify our own strengths and weaknesses.

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3 How to seek feedback?

To seek feedback, you need to have a clear purpose, a specific question, and a relevant audience. You need to decide what you want to learn, why you want to learn it, and who can provide you with the best information. You also need to choose the most appropriate method, tool, or channel to collect feedback, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, online platforms, or social media. You need to design your feedback mechanism in a way that is ethical, respectful, and inclusive of your target group.

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4 How to use feedback?

To use feedback, you need to have a systematic process, a critical mindset, and a responsive attitude. You need to organize, analyze, and interpret the feedback data in a way that is accurate, reliable, and meaningful. You need to compare the feedback with your goals, assumptions, and hypotheses, and look for patterns, trends, gaps, or anomalies. You need to acknowledge, appreciate, and act on the feedback in a way that is timely, constructive, and transparent.

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Wendy Joy Oliver

Executive Director l VoLo Foundation | Master's Ed Leadership
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Feedback can be essential in understanding where the gaps are and celebrating the value. As a donor, we require annual project and budget tracking reports. This provides key data points that I'm able to use as feedback from a collective group of our grantees to know how we've succeeded in meeting those predetermined benchmarks for success.

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5 How to give feedback?

To give feedback, you need to have a genuine intention, a clear message, and a respectful tone. You need to express your appreciation, recognition, or concern for the person or the organization you are giving feedback to. You need to provide specific, factual, and relevant examples of what they did well or what they could improve. You need to offer suggestions, recommendations, or resources that can help them achieve their goals or overcome their challenges.

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Wendy Joy Oliver

Executive Director l VoLo Foundation | Master's Ed Leadership
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I've often used the SWAT analysis to give feedback. It's a useful and good tool. Once I heard a way to give negative feedback. The speaker said, think of it as an oreo cookie, put two compliments on the outside of a negative feedback. It makes it easier for the person to swallow but could help them know areas of strength and what can be improved. All said with kindness and for the purpose of building up another for maximum benefits in their performance and life.

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6 How to improve feedback skills?

To improve your feedback skills, you need to have a growth mindset, a learning orientation, and a feedback culture. You need to embrace feedback as an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve your philanthropic skills. You need to seek feedback regularly, use feedback effectively, and give feedback generously. You need to create a feedback culture that values, encourages, and supports feedback among your peers, beneficiaries, partners, and donors.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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You’re looking to improve your skills in Philanthropy. How can feedback help you get there?

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1 What is feedback?

2 Why is feedback important?

3 How to seek feedback?

4 How to use feedback?

5 How to give feedback?

6 How to improve feedback skills?

7 Here’s what else to consider

Philanthropy

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You’re looking to improve your skills in Philanthropy. How can feedback help you get there?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 What is feedback?

2 Why is feedback important?

3 How to seek feedback?

4 How to use feedback?

5 How to give feedback?

6 How to improve feedback skills?

7 Here’s what else to consider

Philanthropy

Rate this article

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