Feedback Labs | January 12, 2021
The past year brought about an unprecedented global pandemic, social unrest in the face of continued racial injustice, and economic hardships around the world. Barely into 2021, we’ve already seen challenges to our democracy here in the US grow more urgent even as these other crises remain. We continue to hear suffering communities cry out to have their voices heard and to be part of the efforts to shape the solutions they’re facing.
We at Feedback Labs believe that true, authentic listening and acting on feedback can help move us toward addressing some of the challenges we face as a nation and as a global community. We saw many promising efforts to do just that in the past year as nonprofits, philanthropy, aid agencies, and governments adapted to address the challenges they were facing.
When we look back at the past year, and all that was accomplished, we know that many challenges remain, but we face 2021 with optimism fueled by some of the examples highlighted below that illustrate the promise of the feedback community. We welcome your ideas, comments, and suggestions as we work together to shape a better future.
Listening for Racial Justice
In 2020, equity took center stage. In response to the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless others, nonprofits, philanthropy, aid have worked to acknowledge the deep sense of loss, anger, and hurt in communities and change their own practices to become more anti-racist. Here is what Feedback Labs did to move this work forward in 2020:
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We committed to using our influence to change existing power structures to shift decision-making toward greater equity, and challenged our network to join us in listening with an intent to truly change your programming in ways that challenge existing power structures. |
As part of our commitment to listen and learn with intention on how to use our privilege and our platform better, we launched our own internal anti-oppression learning efforts and regularly check in on how we can apply what we’re learning to the work we’re doing to grow the feedback field.
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We continued our Feedback & Equity blog series and launched our #ListeningforJustice series to highlight the voices of BIPOC leaders who are using feedback to transform their communities, compensating contributors for adding their expertise to our community’s learning.
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And across the United States, we are seeing our members use feedback to inform racial justice reform. Read some of our favorite stories from other here:
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Girls for a Change is investing in Black girls’ futures by tapping into untapped potential, listening, and putting them in the driver’s seat. |
Foundation leaders are challenging racism and racial inequalities in philanthropy through feedback and just listening. |
The Meyer Foundation has created a $20 million commitment to Black-led organizations in the Greater Washington region. |
Feedback during COVID-19
2020 was unprecedented – with people facing both a global pandemic and economic shutdown, feedback and listening became more important than ever before. We launched new initiatives to support our network in ways to successfully implement feedback loops during the COVID-19 crisis. Some of Feedback Labs’ highlights from the year:
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We built a guide for why listening during COVID-19 matters, highlighted how others are closing the feedback loop, and provided tips and tools for others to do the same. |
We developed a framework to support funder listening during crisis as philanthropy confronts the challenges presented by COVID-19 and adapts to meet that challenge. |
We hosted webinars to support organizations listen and act on feedback as they pivot their activities in response to the needs that COVID-10 has presented. |
The network sprung into action, providing nonprofits and philanthropies with guidance, evidence and support in their COVID-19 response.
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Listening in a Time of Crisis, by Valerie Threlfall, Melinda Tuan, and Fay Twersky discusses how feedback can help the almost 800 signatories to the Council on Foundation’s COVID-19 pledge fulfill their philanthropic commitments. |
60 Decibels launched a COVID-19 Dashboard to uncover, track, and highlight how this crisis affects the lives of low-income customers in 19 countries over time and to identify their most urgent needs both now and in the future. |
Accountability Lab proactively built trust across all its locations by launching the Coronavirus CivActs Campaign (CCC) – a project that debunks rumors, publishes verified information, and gathers feedback everyday on the coronavirus response. |
The Growing Feedback Field
In order for feedback to be the norm in nonprofits, philanthropy, aid and governments, we need a thriving community of practitioners. Check out how our community has grown:
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We reimagined the Feedback Summit. Feedback+San Juan was not only our first multi-day Summit outside of DC, it also welcomed nearly 60% new attendees and boasted the highest NPS score of any Summit yet (85)! Read about each day of the event here: day 1, day 2, and day 3 |
We discovered new feedback champions. We welcomed 10 new Feedback Fellows representing nine countries- read about their great work integrating feedback in their organizations across the globe. Our Feedback Crash Course graduated an additional 79 feedback champions this year. |
We provided access to feedback tools. Our growing feedback community shared an overwhelming desire for access to technical tools to grow their feedback practice. In response, we launched the Tools Repository, and with nearly 1,000 views in 2020 we’re excited to grow it further this year. |
In 2020, feedback made a big splash in the nonprofit and philanthropy, and is becoming the norm in many aid agencies. Here are some of our favorite articles.
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Visionary Nonprofits are Listening. 6,700 nonprofits have participated in How We Listen – a short self-assessment for nonprofits to reflect on and share their listening and feedback practices on their GuideStar by Candid and Charity Navigator profiles. |
How Learning to Listen Prepared One Funder for Its Crisis Response ORS reviews three years of lessons from a funder collaborative working to improve philanthropy, informed by insights from the people they serve, and review progress toward that goal. |
Constituent engagement is an increasing trend among leading donors. Adaptive management and constituent engagement together is seen as a powerful combination from leading donors, and they increasingly recognize that listening and responding to feedback is an essential element of successful adaptive management. |
Are you excited to help us grow the feedback field further? Stay tuned for ways to become an official Feedback Labs Member later this year! Thank you for all your work this year to make feedback the norm, and we look forward to continuing to move forward together in 2021.
