In 2003, The Rhode Island Foundation was one of 30 foundations across the United States that agreed to be part of a national survey. The goal: to find out what our grantees thought of us! The Center for Effective Philanthropy confidentially asked what they thought of our impact, our efficiency and operations, our willingness to take risks and more.

While our grantees seem generally pleased, we didn’t rate all “A”s. In some cases we led the pack, in others we were average, and sometimes we lagged behind.

The information was so helpful that we invited the Center for Effective Philanthropy to help us gain valuable feedback as we transformed our discretionary grantmaking into “Attaining Vibrant Communities.” Thus, the Center interviewed organizations which submitted Letters of Intent, but before they received notification whether they would be invited to submit applications (the LOI survey). Then it surveyed both organizations who were invited to submit an application, and those that weren’t, but before final funding decisions were made.

Several of the concerns raised by grantseekers have been addressed in the second year of “Attaining Vibrant Communities.”

All three reports are now available for your reading. Click here for the 2002 national study, here for the 2003 Letter of Intent report, and here for the 2003 Applicant Survey. In the interests of complete transparency, the Foundation makes no critique of these reports, and thanks those who responded.