Why Community Listening is Critical to Achieve Effective Philanthropy

Listening to community members and tapping into community expertise are key factors when trying to understand why social issues are happening, and what potential solutions may be best to address these challenges. This is especially true for philanthropy, a sector committed to traditionally funding social change through more “top down” strategies, rather than seeking and empowering community-driven solutions from the beginning. Over the last 10 years, the funder collaborative Fund for Shared Insight has been working to support philanthropy to better engage and uplift community voice by promoting resources and building capacity around community listening, centering community voice and expertise, and learning how to shift from “power over” to “power with” their community members and partnering organizations. In this new podcast discussion, we talk with Melinda Tuan,  Shared Insight's managing director. Melinda shares key takeaways from the last decade, including what it takes to support and encourage change in how foundations work with communities. From participatory practices to community advisory boards, we explore strategies that have helped foundations better connect to their constituents and reach their funding goals.Resources and FootnotesFund for Shared InsightTime for a Three-Legged Measurement StoolFunder Listening Action MenuThe Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo VillavicencioThe What, Why, and How of Advancing Funder OpennessAdvancing Funders’ Openness Practices ReportBuilding Capacity to Support Community ListeningMore on Collective ImpactInfographic: What is Collective Impact?Resource List: Getting Started in Collective ImpactThe Intro music, entitled “Running,” was composed by Rafael Krux, and can be found here and is licensed under CC: By 4.0. The outro music, entitled “Deliberate Thought,” was composed by Kevin Macleod. Licensed under CC: By.Have a question related to collaborative work that you'd like to have discussed on the podcast? Contact us at: https://www.collectiveimpactforum.org/contact-us/