By Stella Wang, Feedback Labs | January 23, 2025
At Feedback Labs, we believe that high-quality feedback practices are essential for nonprofits and foundations to understand their impact, improve services, and engage meaningfully with their communities. That’s why we launched the Feedback Certification Exam last year as part of the Feedback Crash Course, to certify professionals like you with the knowledge and skills to carry out high-quality, equitable feedback loops! The exam is designed to assess the knowledge and skills you gain through our Feedback Crash Course, ensuring that you’re well-equipped to implement effective feedback loops in your work.
Why We Created Feedback Certification
Our mission at Feedback Labs is to support philanthropy, nonprofits, and other social sector organizations to regularly listen and act on feedback in high-quality, equitable, and inclusive ways. To do that, we are working to systematically build a strong feedback field, by nurturing a community of feedback practitioners, offering feedback tools and training, and creating the incentives for social sector organizations to prioritize feedback.
“THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME STANDARIZATION TO MOVE THE FIELD TO A MORE MATURE POINT.”
The Strong Field Framework, developed by The James Irvine Foundation and The Bridgespan Group, highlights the importance of creating shared standards of practice for any social sector field, just like in established fields such as medicine or law. As one leader mentioned in the Fund for Shared Insight’s Assessing the Status of the Feedback Field 2024 report, “There needs to be some standardization to move the field to a more mature point.” For years, we’ve received feedback from our community expressing a desire for a certification that validates their skills and knowledge in feedback practices. The Feedback Certification Exam helps achieve this by offering a structured and credible way for practitioners like you to demonstrate your expertise and commitment to high-quality feedback practices, setting you apart in the field. Our hypothesis is that organizations with Certified Feedback Practitioners are better equipped to implement effective feedback loops, leading to better, more equitable outcomes and stronger community relationships.
Early feedback from our network has been overwhelmingly positive, with practitioners expressing excitement about the opportunity to formalize and demonstrate their skills. The exam provides a tangible way to recognize and reward the commitment to feedback practices that drive meaningful change.
What to Expect From the Certification Exam
The Feedback Certification Exam is currently only available to participants of Feedback Labs’ Feedback Crash Course, and it is designed to assess the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired through the course. The exam is designed with flexibility in mind: it is open-book, allowing you to consult your learning materials, which promotes a thorough understanding rather than rote memorization. It consists of 21 multiple-choice questions, including both knowledge checks and scenario-based questions, ensuring a well-rounded assessment of theoretical concepts and practical application. On average, the exam takes around 15 minutes to complete. However, you can pause and return to the exam within 15 days, using the same browser and device, if you need more time.
Participants who complete the Certification Exam receive a LinkedIn badge and PDF certificate. This is an opportunity to showcase your expertise and commitment to driving impact through high-quality feedback practices. Whether you’re a nonprofit leader looking to gather community input on your strategy, a foundation program manager seeking to strengthen feedback from your grantees, or a consultant aiming to offer certified expertise to clients, the Feedback Certification gives you the confidence and credibility to excel in your role.
How we Designed the Certification Exam
The exam content aligns with the Feedback Crash Course curriculum, the Listen4Good Guide to building high-quality feedback loops that center equity, and the Core Principles of Constituent Feedback, among others. By integrating leading feedback resources, the exam provides a comprehensive assessment that reflects current best practices in the field. This alignment ensures that practitioners are well-prepared to implement effective feedback loops, contributing to the overall goal of standardizing high-quality feedback practices across the sector.
Excited to learn more? Don’t wait—sign up for our next Feedback Crash Course and get ready to showcase your expertise with the Feedback Certification Exam.
