Feedback Labs is a nonprofit organization that believes people are the best experts in their own lives, and they should ultimately drive the policies and programs that impact them.
What is a feedback loop?
A feedback loop is a two-way stream of communication between someone who designs something or provides a service and someone who uses that thing or benefits from that service.
What is our mission?
We want to make feedback the norm in aid, philanthropy, nonprofits, and government.
What are the core principles for feedback?
The feedback community believes that, when done right, listening and responding to feedback can be a strong force for increased equity in the world and getting better results for people. Why is feedback essential for social interventions and what does it mean to ‘do feedback right?’ The Feedback Principles, created by the feedback community, address these questions.
Who are we?
Feedback Labs is a vibrant, women-led team. Want to know more about us, our Board, and the Feedback Fellows who propel our work forward?
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Achieving our mission would not be possible without the support of the greater feedback community. Hundreds of organizations are working to use feedback loops in their work, and we learn and grow with them every day.
Feedback community members have helped develop standards for feedback practice, create tools to streamline the feedback process, and contributed their ideas on the feedback blog.
Our History
- Hosted our annual summit, Feedback+Jacksonville, as a hybrid event in response to COVID-19
- Established the Feedback Champions, a set of emerging leaders in the feedback field, based in the US
- Published a five-blog series in partnership with The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)
- Led a town hall on why feedback is essential to equitable evaluation
- Hosted 17 LabStorms, 3 Crash Courses, and 3 Introduction to Feedback webinars
- Launched our membership program to support a growing feedback community
- Hosted 24 LabStorms
- Established the inaugural class of the Feedback Tools Accelerator, a community of tool providers from the Global South working to learn from each other – and the field – to scale their feedback tools.
- Published an article about How We Listen, a self-assessment on Candid to motivate nonprofits to reflect on, share, and improve how they listen to the people they intend to serve.
- 2021 FBL 990 form
- Held Feedback+San Juan, our first Feedback+ event outside of the continental US
- Put forth a statement in support of BLM as well as a commitment to racial equity in our work
- Hosted 18 LabStorms
- Launched the Listening for Justice blog post series to amplify and center the voices of BIPOC leaders and organizations using feedback
- Formed the Feedback Incentives Learning Group, a group of funders and philanthropy support organizations dedicated to exploring ways to support nonprofits and motivate foundations to listen to and act on feedback from the people they ultimately aim to help
- 2020 990 form
- 600+ organizations in our community and growing every week!
- Hosted Feedback Crash Courses in Puerto Rico and New York City
- Released the Core Principles of Constituent Feedback
- Established Feedback+ , a series of Summits focusing on feedback efforts in communities around the globe, launching with our first event in New York City
- 2019 990 form
- The Feedback Labs community grew to 500+ organizations
- Hosted 24 LabStorms
- Held a Feedback Crash Course in conjunction with the Feedback Summit, attended by 20 people
- Published Under What Conditions is Information Empowering?, a paper that shows the key pieces to making information useful and impactful
- In partnership with the greater Feedback Labs network, drafted the Core Principles of Constituent Feedback
- Hosted the Feedback Summit: The Expected Thing
- Established the inaugural class of Feedback Fellows
- Formed the Irritants for Change, a group of feedback experts and nonprofit rating platforms that are committed to building shared incentives for nonprofits and philanthropy to listen and act on feedback. They aim to ‘irritate’ the sector in a way that encourages more and better listening.
- 2018 990 form
- The Feedback Labs community grew to 415+ organizations
- Hosted 12 LabStorms
- Launched the Feedback Crash Course, a one-day introductory course on the stages of a feedback loop
- Hosted the Feedback Summit: Transforming Voice. Unleashing Power
- Incorporated as an independent nonprofit
- 2017 990 form
- Hosted the Smart Summit at the World Bank
- Published Is Feedback Smart?, a literature review looking at existing research on the link between feedback and better program outcomes
- Launched the Sprint Relay Methodology to make adaptive implementation practical, by convening the Practical Adaptation Network in partnership with USAID
- Hosted the Feedback Summit: From Talk to Action and the London Feedback Summit
- Launched the LabStorm model and hosted the first 10 LabStorms
- Hosted the inaugural Feedback Summit in Washington DC
- Launched the Feedback Labs Quiz and Toolkit
- Supported three organizations through The Collaboration Fund, which supported organizations within and outside Feedback Labs to experiment with and build innovative tools and approaches to closing the feedback loop.
- Launched Feedback Labs with 8 Founding Members
- Published How Feedback Loops Can Improve Aid (and Maybe Governance)
- Informal collaboration among 8 founding members: Ashoka, GlobalGiving, FrontlineSMS, GroundTruth Initiative, Keystone Accountability, Twaweza ni sisi, Ushahidi, Center for Global Development
- Received seed funding from Rita Allen Foundation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and funding founders including Fund for Shared Insight.
Want to get in touch?
Do you want to learn more about Feedback Labs? Are you interested in hosting a LabStorm? Do you have feedback for us? Are you looking for career opportunities? Find the right contact to get in touch with.
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