Listening and Learning: CEP Survey Results

This blog is estimated to take 4 minutes to read.

For 25 years, the Weitz Family Foundation has been committed to learning from community leaders and nonprofit partners. A key part of that learning is hearing directly from the organizations we support. 

As someone who’s been on the grant-seeking side, I understand that giving honest feedback to funders can be challenging. The power dynamics are real—and they can make candid conversations difficult. That’s why we partnered with the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) earlier this year to offer our grantees a safe, anonymous way to share their experiences. 

CEP’s extensively tested, research informed survey collects feedback from grantees and compares results across more than 350 funders. This gives us valuable insight—not just into how we’re doing but also how we compare to our peers. It’s a powerful tool to help us grow and better support our grantees. 

In January of this year, 149 grantees were invited to participate in the survey and we received 113 thoughtful responses. True to our core value of transparency, we’re excited to share the results publicly. It’s important to us that we not only take in the feedback that was shared but also be accountable to turning it into action. Below you will find some of the major insights from the survey, as well as our commitments moving forward. A full memo of key findings can be found here. 

Community Impact
Respondents rated the foundation as having a significant positive impact on both their organizations and the Omaha community. These results place us in the 92nd and 95th percentiles, respectively, compared to other foundations. 

Field Knowledge
Grantees rated the foundation in the 30th percentile for understanding the fields in which their organizations work. Similarly, we were in the 39th percentile for advancing knowledge within those fields—highlighting an area for potential growth. 

Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Grantees rated us highly in this area. We ranked in the 90th percentile for clearly communicating how racial equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI) relate to our work, and in the 94th percentile for demonstrating a strong commitment to REDI principles. 

Transparency
The foundation received a strong overall rating for transparency, ranking in the 91st percentile. However, responses also indicated a need to improve clarity around our funding priorities and strategies. 

Grantmaking
We were significantly higher than the median funder in offering flexible funding. 

• Unrestricted Funding: 86% of our grantees reported receiving unrestricted funds, compared to 25% for the median funder. 

• Multi-year Grants: 48% of grantees reported receiving multi-year grants, compared to just 11% for the median funder. 

Our Commitments 

Guided by your feedback and the insights from CEP’s report, we are making the following commitments to improve our grantmaking, deepen our impact, and build even stronger relationships with our grantees 

Commitment #1: Clarify How We Work  

The feedback we got from the survey indicated that more clarity is needed when it comes to how the foundation is impacting field knowledge and advancement. Unlike traditional funders, we do not focus on a specific field or assign program officers as subject-matter experts. Instead, each staff member reviews all applications and decisions are made collaboratively. Moving forward, we will do a better job of explaining this model and how it shapes our broader community-focused strategy. 

Commitment #2: Sharpen Our Communication on Priorities 

While we received a high rating overall for transparency, some of the feedback indicated a need for more clarity regarding funding priorities and strategies. In response, we have updated our website and video tutorials to more explicitly state what we fund—and what we do not. The Tutorials page of our website currently includes a video with a walkthrough of both of our applications, including details on eligibility. We also include this information on the FAQ section of our website. 

Commitment #3: Build on What’s Working 

Sometimes, strengthening what’s already working is just as important as making changes. We’re proud of the areas where we were rated positively—and we’re committed to preserving and enhancing them. These include: 

• General operating and multi-year grants 

• Support beyond funding, such as technical assistance 

• Being approachable and responsive 

• Our commitment to racial equity, diversity, and inclusion 

We are deeply grateful to everyone who took the time to share their perspective. Your voices are helping us learn and grow as a foundation. We look forward to continuing this dialogue and welcome ongoing conversations about how we can continue to improve. If you have questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to contact me at Rose@weitzfamilyfoundation.org.