What we are learning from candid feedback from our program partners

In a nutshell:

• Program Partners see Co-Impact as a trusted, open, and flexible thought partner in helping them work toward long-lasting impact at scale, with the design phase seen as a unique, valuable form of support.
• At the same time, they suggest more simplicity in our approach, streamlined processes, access to tailored support for systems change efforts, and more connection to their peers and funding partners.
• In 2024, we will simplify our language and key concepts, review how we conduct sourcing and due diligence, identify contextually-relevant actors who can offer specialist systems change support to program partners, and scope how platforms such as communities of practice can provide a trusted space for connection and problem solving. We will also foster deeper collaboration between our program partners and our wider funding community.

One of our core values at Co-Impact is to exercise a beginner’s mind.

We interpret this as staying humble, recognizing there is much we do not know, and always striving to learn in order to improve. One of the best ways to practice this beginner’s mind is to seek out, really listen to, and then act upon, candid feedback from the organizations we support. So in 2023 we commissioned the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) to carry out a confidential survey and in-depth interviews with our program partners and applicants. This was the third time we partnered with CEP (here are our reflections from the 2021 survey).

We invited all our program partners to participate. Some partners we have supported for a number of years, while others are just starting their relationship with Co-Impact. The CEP team fielded an online survey and conducted in-depth interviews, both of which achieved response rates that exceed CEP targets. This is important as it means the insights are representative of our partners. For language equity, the CEP team conducted interviews in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Bahasa. We are deeply grateful to all partners for their time and insights.

Below we share a short summary of the main findings from this report, as well as our commitments to taking the recommendations forward. You can access the full CEP report here.

Overall, we are very pleased to note that this report is an improvement as compared to the 2021 survey. In areas comparable to other funders, our partners rate Co-Impact mostly as good as or slightly above as the comparison group. The partners who have been with us for a number of years commend us on positive changes they have observed over time. Most partners see Co-Impact as a funder deeply and substantively committed to systems change and gender equality, and experience us as supportive and trusting. Specifically, here are a few key areas which program partners considered our strengths:

• Our approach to helping partners work towards long-lasting impact on a large scale. Partners see Co-Impact as a thought leader in applying a systems change approach to creating impact, appreciate the focus on gender and intersectionality, and regard our organizational strengthening focus as a distinctive value.
• As a key part of our approach, the design phase is experienced as a unique and distinctive offering by Co-Impact and as necessary for building and strengthening partner initiatives. Design workshops are highly appreciated for clarifying concepts and processes, although partners would like to have more opportunities to exchange and learn from each other. For a brief write-up of the design phase, see here.
• Partners were very positive about the relationship with Co-Impact, which was characterized by flexibility, openness and responsiveness to feedback. Staff are seen as highly knowledgeable facilitators and thought partners. Partners were also positive about our improved processes and less micromanagement, including reduced burden of calls and reports.
• The creation of regional teams is perceived very positively. This helps Co-Impact be more connected to and aware of the nuances of a particular context, which means we can better support our program partners to adapt the systems change and gender equity approach to their own context.

Just as – if not more – important is to consider the areas where we can improve our funding practice. We are thankful to our program partners for their candor, as this is essential for our learning. The recommendations and our current thoughts on how we can improve our practice can be clustered in four main categories:

1. We will be driven by achieving more simplicity in our approach.

This includes more hands-on tools and more examples, particularly around our approach to learning, measurement and evaluation, which is new to many partners.

In response, we are committed to further simplifying our language and key concepts across our materials, and to make these widely available in a range of languages and in the public domain for our program partners and other interested parties. This includes our approach to systems and institutional change, and our approach to learning, measurement and evaluation suited to this kind of work. We heard very clear feedback that many people learn by example – so we also commit to making available a range of concrete examples from our current program partners of essential materials, such as dashboards, systems change vision documents, measurement plans, and more.

2. We will work towards streamlining our processes.

Including in sourcing and providing simple templates that help with clarity (e.g. for budgets and reports). In particular, declined applicants gave feedback that the pace and clarity of our process could be improved. In fact, declined applicants as a group rated us lower than the comparable funder cohort. This is an important insight for us to take forward.

In response, we are reviewing how we conduct sourcing and due diligence. We aim to make these lighter, clearer, and also to act in the spirit of “deeper understanding” (less on conducting diligence on the partner). While we cannot erase the power dynamic that exists between a funder and the partner receiving the funds, we want to be aware of this and minimize its effects. For example, we are making it easier for partners to defer a payment or change the amount requested, to give more autonomy to partners who need to take care of organizational health within complex funding arrangements as well as challenging political landscapes.

3. We will offer more access to varied and tailored support.

One of our areas of focus will be on offering more access to varied and tailored support to develop system-change strategies and a range of specific areas – from organizational strengthening to managing coalitions to developing measurement capacities. In particular, our partners who are working on women in leadership as well as our research partners have asked for increased support in how to measure the contribution of their work to improved institutions and systems.

In response, we will identify and collaborate with a range of different, contextually- relevant actors (from think tanks to consultancies to individuals) who can offer deep support to program partners, and who are not the funder. Another promising approach is to connect program partners to each other, for support and learning and possibly for collaboration, in ways which are concretely useful as well as light on effort. We understand that for many of our partners time is a precious commodity – and so we are exploring various ways in which platforms such as communities of practice can be curated and managed so that they are not a burden, but do provide a trusted and generative space for connection and problem-solving.

4. We will endeavor to increase connection to peer organizations and funders.

We will increase connection between peer organizations doing similar work, as well as to other funders who are interested in supporting systems change and gender equity efforts.

In response, we commit to connecting program partners more deeply with the wider funding community which we are proud to be part of, as well as to step up our own engagement across the philanthropic field. Yes it’s in part about facilitating more philanthropic funds to reach more partners, but it goes beyond the transactional. In order to make deep, lasting change in the systemic problems we are committed to, we need to help foster more deep collaboration among actors who may be quite different in many ways, but who share the goals of transforming systems to be more just and equitable.

Our hope is that these and other concrete changes we are making will help to make us better funding partners and collaborators. We invite our program and funding partners and other members of our community to help hold us to account for our commitments.

By Varja Lipovsek and Olivia Leland