Funders can do a much better job — setting strategies and making grants that are more equitable, effective, and sustainable — when they listen to the people and communities at the heart of their work. This guide, featured in Fund for Shared Insight’s Funder Listening Action Menu, shows you how to host listening sessions that can turn those who are most impacted by your decisions but typically least consulted into a much-needed guiding force for your foundation’s work.

When done well, listening sessions can be a solid touchpoint for authentic and ongoing community engagement. They help funders understand and be informed by the needs, values, and priorities of the people closest to the problems they are trying to solve.

We invite you to use this guide to implement listening sessions that are meaningful and useful to those participating, that are not tokenizing or extractive, and that respect the dignity and agency of the communities involved