A group of seven foundations led by the William and Flora Hewlett and Ford foundations have announced the launch of a fund to support efforts to improve philanthropy.

The Fund for Shared Insight will pool financial and other resources from a group of initial funding partners that includes the Packard, JPB, Rita Allen, and Kellogg foundations as well as Liquidnet, a global institutional trading network. Grants of one to three years in duration will be awarded to help nonprofit organizations encourage and incorporate feedback from the people they serve; more effectively link that feedback to better results; foster more openness between and among foundations and their grantees; and share lessons learned.

"We believe foundations don't have all the answers. We believe many and diverse voices, not just expert voices, give us the perspective needed to make a bigger difference in the lives of people we want to help," said Shared Insight co-chair Hilary Pennington, vice president of education, creativity, and free expression at the Ford Foundation. "Through Shared Insight grants, we hope to unearth good ideas from lots of different places."