US: How Listening to Constituents Can Lead to Systems Change
Stanford Social Innovation Review – August 18, 2021
More and more nonprofits and funders are seeking participant feedback because, while experimental measures can surface the “what” of change, participant input can surface the “how and why,” and suggest concrete ways to improve. Such feedback can be an organization’s quickest and least expensive source of program insight and, when mixed with empirical metrics, can give the most nuanced picture of what helps or hinders participants’ success. These findings matched our experience at Pace Center for Girls, a Florida-based multiservice nonprofit that serves girls with histories of trauma. On average, Pace and the nonprofits we studied reported a 27.4 percent higher commitment to inclusion (i.e. actively seeking input from all stakeholders) after implementing participatory methods, as well as a 17.4 percent increase in curiosity (a bias toward asking questions and seeking input) for decisions ranging from hiring to service delivery and technology investments.
Also: Report: Building Equitable Evidence of Social Impact: https://www.pacecenter.org/media/3yfjf04a/building-evidence-of-social-impact-v7.pdf
https://ssir.org/articles/entry/how_listening_to_constituents_can_lead_to_systems_change