Comments on: Why your grants reports are critical http://grantmakingblog.clevelandfoundation.org/index.php/2010/04/why-your-grants-reports-are-critical/ Views from our program officers Thu, 17 May 2012 03:45:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Paul http://grantmakingblog.clevelandfoundation.org/index.php/2010/04/why-your-grants-reports-are-critical/comment-page-1/#comment-1168 Paul Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:51:15 +0000 http://grantmakingblog.clevelandfoundation.org/?p=196#comment-1168 Gayle - You touch upon some great points. The tug between transparency and confidentiality has been a topic of much discussion, from the local level to national philanthropic associations. We continue to discuss and explore the issue. I am curious to hear from local grantee organizations - what would be the impact of sharing any or all of your grant report information? Would it change what you include? What would you like to see from other grantees? Gayle - You touch upon some great points. The tug between transparency and confidentiality has been a topic of much discussion, from the local level to national philanthropic associations. We continue to discuss and explore the issue.

I am curious to hear from local grantee organizations - what would be the impact of sharing any or all of your grant report information? Would it change what you include? What would you like to see from other grantees?

]]> By: Gayle Gifford http://grantmakingblog.clevelandfoundation.org/index.php/2010/04/why-your-grants-reports-are-critical/comment-page-1/#comment-1167 Gayle Gifford Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:22:10 +0000 http://grantmakingblog.clevelandfoundation.org/?p=196#comment-1167 Open Source grant reporting! There is way too much great information locked in the file cabinets of community foundations across the US. It would be fabulous to have those reports available to the entire community. Not just summaries, but the whole report as what you might think isn't of interest could be incredibly value to others. I also believe that if these reports were in the public domain, that researchers would have a wealth of information to begin probing and that new knowledge would emerge. Imagine looking at a community across time, finding the intersections of projects. Or people across time. Or issues through time. No one foundation will ever have the resources to to this alone... but in the cloud... amazing insights could happen. I know that there are confidentiality issues and we don't want to squash candor, but I think if we put our collective hats on that we can figure out a way through the thorns. So I challenge you to think very expansively about this. And cheer you on should you take it on. Open Source grant reporting! There is way too much great information locked in the file cabinets of community foundations across the US. It would be fabulous to have those reports available to the entire community. Not just summaries, but the whole report as what you might think isn’t of interest could be incredibly value to others.
I also believe that if these reports were in the public domain, that researchers would have a wealth of information to begin probing and that new knowledge would emerge. Imagine looking at a community across time, finding the intersections of projects. Or people across time. Or issues through time. No one foundation will ever have the resources to to this alone… but in the cloud… amazing insights could happen.
I know that there are confidentiality issues and we don’t want to squash candor, but I think if we put our collective hats on that we can figure out a way through the thorns.
So I challenge you to think very expansively about this. And cheer you on should you take it on.

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