Seventy-five percent of respondents to a recent survey report an increased demand for funder transparency, a new guide from GrantCraft, a joint service of the Foundation Center and the European Foundation Centre, finds.

Produced in collaboration with Glasspockets, a service of the Foundation Center, the report, Opening Up: Demystifying Funder Transparency (36 pages, PDF), presents case studies that demonstrate the value of transparency with respect to strengthening funder credibility, improving grantee relationships, facilitating greater collaboration, increasing public trust, reducing duplication of effort, and building communities of shared learning. The guide also shares insights from funders, examines some of the challenges they face, and offers practical advice about five key aspects of transparency: sharing grantee data, sharing performance assessments, improving funder-grantee relationships, improving the practice of philanthropy, and surfacing opportunities for connecting.

Funders profiled in the guide cite many benefits of transparency, including receiving better and more targeted grant proposals and leveraging feedback loops and increased awareness of the efforts of others to boost their effectiveness. The report also found that true transparency comes down to a mindset — one in which funders believe they are most effective when they approach all aspects of their work by saying, "Let's publicly share this"; that foundations do not have to "bare all" to be transparent; and that leadership support is essential to a foundation's transparency efforts.

"The research we conducted for this guide demonstrates that funders who openly communicate about their work are finding it to be a win-win strategy," said Jen Bokoff, director of GrantCraft at the Foundation Center. "Grantees, funding partners, the public, and philanthropy professionals themselves all benefit when foundations make their work and their knowledge broadly accessible."