The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) commissioned a Grantee Perception Report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) in 2009. Since 2003, CEP has conducted surveys of almost 70,000 grantees at almost 240 philanthropic organizations to gather information on their perceptions. This extensive database allows CEP to provide CHCF with data on how our grantees experience working with us and how we compare to other foundations.

Relative to other foundations, CHCF received higher ratings in these areas:

• Advancing knowledge in grantees' fields;
• Effect on public policy in grantees' fields;
• Interactions with grantees (approachability, responsiveness, and fairness); and
• Helpfulness of reporting and evaluation processes.
  

Relative to other foundations, CHCF received lower ratings in these areas

• Impact on the grantee's organization;
• Sustainability of work we fund; and
• Impact on local communities.

In addition, though our ratings related to both consistency and clarity of communication were statistically similar to or above those of other foundations, comments and suggestions from grantees indicated room for improvement in communication between staff and grantees.

These results were not surprising — but they were enlightening, and we have taken steps to improve our performance. They are best understood in the context of CHCF's strategy: We focus on improving the financing and delivery of health care in California and often operate at a statewide level. This choice was made based on our assessment of where we could make the greatest contribution with relatively limited resources ($35 to $40 million in annual payout) and a philanthropic landscape in California that includes a number of large, health-focused foundations operating at both the state and regional levels.

The findings were presented to the CHCF staff and board of directors, and the ratings, comments, and suggestions from grantees have been discussed extensively. Our response to the results is outlined below. We are:

• Reviewing and revising CHCF's published funding guidelines based on best practices.
• Posting additional detail on our Web site (CHCF.org) regarding program strategies, including vision and guiding principles, for each of the Foundation's programs.
• Developing guidelines for staff communications with grantees, with a particular emphasis on ensuring that new projects begin with clear and shared expectations regarding each organization's roles and responsibilities.
• Refining our proposal review process for major new initiatives to incorporate a project logic model to clarify long term outcomes, and — when relevant — careful consideration of assistance beyond the grant to enhance organizational impact and sustainability.

Download an excerpt from CHCF's Grantee Perception Report (PDF).

In addition, we engaged Putnam Community Investment Consulting, Inc. to identify ways to improve communication with grantseekers and grantees. Putnam's focus was to analyze the results of CHCF's Grantee Perception Report and to conduct further research that included assessing grantee communication practices of our program staff and other foundations, as well as examining the presentation of grantee resources on our Web site. Putnam prepared a report for CHCF outlining the results of this research and providing recommendations in working with grantees and potential grantees. Download the August 2010 report: Improving Communication Between Foundation Staff and Grantees (PDF).

We are grateful to the CHCF grantees who took the time to provide us with feedback. We welcome comments and suggestions to improve our performance; email your thoughts to the Research and Evaluation staff .

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