Building Trust-Based Philanthropy: A LabStorm with Missouri Foundation for Health

Feedback Labs | March 11, 2025

About Missouri Foundation for Health

MFH is dedicated to eliminating health inequities by working alongside communities and nonprofits to transform systems through collaboration, convening, knowledge sharing, and strategic investment. As a regional health foundation serving 84 counties and the city of St. Louis, MFH seeks to move beyond traditional philanthropy toward community-driven solutions that address the social and economic factors shaping health outcomes. Their work extends beyond grantmaking—MFH is building trust-based relationships to ensure that community voices lead the way in shaping policies and programs.

The Challenge

MFH has embraced a Community Liaison Model designed to center relationship-building and community input. However, moving from gathering feedback to integrating it into strategic decisions presents challenges. Specifically, MFH sought solutions for:

Operationalizing feedback to ensure it translates into meaningful action.
Encouraging large organizations to shift their decision-making to better reflect community voices.
Incentivizing the adoption of feedback within organizations, making it a standard practice rather than an afterthought.

MFH’s goal is to create sustainable, trust-based feedback loops that lead to real change.

Key Discussions

1. Embedding Feedback into Everyday Decision-Making

One of the biggest challenges MFH faces is ensuring that community input is not just collected—but acted upon. LabStorm attendees proposed several strategies:

Start Meetings with Community Voices: Opening each staff meeting with a verbatim quote from community feedback can help center the work around lived experiences.
Requiring Leadership Accountability: Creating an expectation that leadership must demonstrate how community feedback influenced key decisions can embed feedback into institutional culture.
Hosting Community Assemblies: Convening regular gatherings where MFH shares back what they heard—and what they’re doing about it—can build trust and transparency.

2. Incentivizing Feedback Adoption Within Organizations

For feedback to be effective, organizations must embrace it. But how do we encourage nonprofits, government agencies, and funders to prioritize community input? Suggestions included:

Recognizing and Rewarding Feedback Champions: Hosting award ceremonies for staff, organizations, and community leaders who actively engage with feedback processes.
Piloting Community-Led Funding Models: Testing mini-grants that communities directly control, reinforcing self-determination in decision-making.
Building Internal Networks: Establishing feedback ambassadors within large organizations to champion culture change from within.

3. Closing the Loop and Building Trust-Based Philanthropy

It’s not enough to collect feedback—communities need to see their input leading to real change. LabStorm participants explored ways to ensure feedback loops are fully closed:

Leveraging Existing Communication Channels: Incorporating updates into local radio stations, newsletters, and community meetings ensures accessibility for diverse audiences.
Creating Community Decision-Making “Tournaments”: Allowing communities to vote on funding priorities fosters engagement and self-agency.
Making the Final Report a Collaborative Process: Instead of a top-down approach, inviting communities into the evaluation and reporting process helps maintain trust and accuracy.

Key Takeaways

Feedback must be woven into daily decision-making. From leadership expectations to team meetings, feedback should not be an extra task—it should be how decisions get made.
Incentives matter. Whether through awards, pilot funding programs, or organizational champions, rewarding engagement with feedback creates long-term culture shifts.
Closing the loop is essential. MFH and other funders must go beyond collecting input—communities need to see that their voices are driving real change.

Conclusion

This LabStorm with Missouri Foundation for Health highlighted the power of trust-based philanthropy. By embedding community input into decision-making, incentivizing feedback culture, and closing feedback loops, MFH is setting a new standard for equitable, community-driven change.

Does your organization face similar feedback challenges? Share your experiences in the comments below, or reach out to us at [email protected] to keep the conversation going!

Learn More About LabStorms

LabStorms are collaborative problem-solving sessions designed to help organizations tackle feedback-related challenges or share what’s working well in their practice.