Giving Compass' Take:

• Feedback Labs discusses the value of honesty in nonprofit-related feedback, specifically in the international aid sector. It's essential, but also rare.

• What can we do to encourage more honest feedback from grantmakers and grantees alike? How does more nonprofit transparency fit into the equation?

• Here's more on how feedback can innovate the social sector.


Earlier this week I was speaking to someone who works at a foundation on and who is facing a quandary about honesty in aid. Like most philanthropic funders, the foundation staff offer several ways for their grantees to give them feedback. And, also like most funders, they sense that there’s a lot that their grantees aren’t telling them.

Which makes sense — why would I be candid with someone if telling them the truth might hurt me? What incentive does a foundation’s grantee have to be honest with the people holding the purse strings? The organizations we work with who get the most candid feedback put significant effort into building trust with the people from whom they’re asking for feedback. Honesty is not easy to achieve.

So, just to be difficult, let’s add a level of complexity. What if we’re not talking about a not-for-profit grantee being honest with their foundation funder? What if the "funder" is the collective body of UK taxpayers, and the “grantee” is the UK’s Department for International Development? Should DfID give honest feedback on how its development efforts are going to UK taxpayers?

Craig Valters and Brendan Whitty of the Overseas Development Institute argue "yes" in their new report, detailing how a focus on results has played out at DfID over the past 10 years.

Read the full article about honesty in aid by Megan Campbell at Feedback Labs.

This article on honesty in aid was written by Megan Campbell at Feedback Labs