Listening to our Community

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation through the Eyes of Grantees
Final Report August 2011

The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation (RMPF) has engaged in more than 30 years of responsive grantmaking and currently is one of only a handful of funders providing general operating support in Los Angeles. In 2010 alone, the Foundation granted over $20 million to Los Angeles area nonprofit organizations.

In April 2011, the Foundation contracted Harder+Company Community Research to gather feedback from grantees for the purpose of improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Foundation’s grantmaking program. The survey followed an internal strategic review process conducted in 2011 in which the Foundation board reaffirmed its commitment to responsive grantmaking in Los Angeles County. Nearly 400 current and former grantees representing all four of the Foundation’s priorty areas were invited to participate in the survey; yielding a 79% completion rate. We invite you to take a look at the thoughtful responses by downloading the PDF.

We heard some important messages, including the value of core operating (unrestricted) support toward building your capacity and the need to reduce the lag time between submission of proposals and their disposition, either funding or decline. We will be working to implement some changes to our procedures to address what we heard through the survey and will be announcing them via postal mail, email, and through this website in the coming months.