Leaders of nonprofit organizations believe that most of their foundation funders lack a deep understanding of their beneficiaries' needs, a report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy finds.

Based on a survey of two hundred and thirty-five nonprofits, the report, Hearing From Those We Seek to Help: Nonprofit Practices and Perspectives in Beneficiary Feedback (32 pages, PDF), found that in an effort to improve their programming, nearly all nonprofits collect feedback from the people they serve when designing programs and services, as well as during and after the provision of said services; that fewer than half (46 percent) currently receive financial or non-monetary assistance to collect such feedback; and that a majority (59 percent) cite lack of resources as the greatest challenge in their efforts to collect and analyze feedback. While 60 percent of the nonprofits surveyed said they share beneficiary feedback with most or all of their funders, fewer said that most or all of their funders have a deep understanding of the needs of the intended beneficiaries of their services (38 percent) or have funding principles (27 percent) or programmatic strategies (16 percent) that reflect such an understanding.

"For nonprofits, collecting feedback from beneficiaries can be financially and logistically challenging," said Ellie Buteau, vice president for research at CEP and co-author of the report. "But despite that, many nonprofits work to overcome those hurdles because of how vital listening to and understanding the needs of those voices can be to improving programs."

According to the report, nonprofit leaders believe the foundations that best understand their beneficiaries' needs are actively engaged with the organization and its work; are open, humble, and collaborative in their approach; and are deeply connected to beneficiary community concerns.

"Our research shows a disconnect between foundations and their grantees when it comes to listening to the people whom both groups are seeking to help," said CEP president Phil Buchanan. "Foundation strategies will be most effective when they are informed by those who will be affected."