An upcoming step in our grant-giving process is conducting site visits. In Joel Orosz’s book “The Insider’s Guide to Grantmaking,” he outlines the important aspects involved in the site visit process. One compelling argument he made was that “site visits usually should be reserved for projects that the foundation is leaning toward funding rather than for those that it is leaning against funding” (131). After phone interviews groups should be thinking about whether or not they feel confident in the organization because traveling to these sites could be a sunk cost. It is also not fair to an organization to prepare for a site visit when you are leaning towards them not receiving the grant. Regarding site visits, each group member should be observing and taking in the how the office runs. However, in my group’s case, Landesa’s headquarters is in Seattle, Washington making our site visit a “Skype visit” instead, which differs from Orosz’s ideal setting. Orosz highlights that grantees should be looking to see if phones are ringing and if people are interacting in an efficient and respectful manner, but this will be nearly impossible to do through Skype. This poses a question for Orosz: for grantees that cannot make the trip to a site visit but feel passionately about an organization, how should they host it over Skype? How will grantees observe central signals of whether or not this is a productive and impactful organization through a small computer screen? One way I believe a Skype visit could be productive is by preparing questions in advance of areas and people (or groups of people interacting) that you would like to see at the site. You can also occasionally ask the individual giving the tour to move the camera from side to side to get a full view. Although there is nothing more beneficial than an in-person site visit, there are ways to make a Skype visit just as valuable. Orosz should begin to consider guidelines for Skype visits as technology continues to advance and become more integrated in the grantmaking process.
- Comment
- Reblog
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Global Philanthropy 
Emma, I completely agree! I definitely think that an in-person site visit is extremely beneficial throughout the grant decision-making process; however, video chat site visits can also be beneficial. I believe Skype was originally intended to act as the closest alternative to physically being with someone or in a place. I think one way this intention can be fully realized during a Skype site visit is to have the recipient of the call in Landesa’s office walk around with their device as if you were actually there with them. This would give your group a clearer picture of the office and allow you to get somewhat of a sense of the “vibe” of the organization. I’m curious to see how your site visit went and am excited to hear about it in class!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like how were grappling with how to make the best of a less than ideal situation, which is often necessary in the nonprofit sector where resources are sometimes quite limited. Good use of the Orosz reading!
LikeLike
test
LikeLike
Though I agree that an in-person site visit may be the best way of truly observing the productivity of an organization, video visits could be equally valuable if conducted effectively. I believe one of the obstacles that some of the groups experienced was that the organizations they were interacting with lived in an area with a significantly different time-zone. This made it difficult to set up a Skype visit that was during the organization’s business hours but also convenient for the students. However, I believe that the groups handled this very well considering that the one of the finalist organization conducted the site-visit via Skype.
LikeLike
Emma, I agree that to get the truest essence of an office, an in person site visit is the best case scenario. Since we were lucky enough to work with global philanthropic organizations, this wasn’t quite as possible as if we had narrowed the scope of our class to just the surrounding areas. I think being flexible and making the best of your Skype call is what allowed us all to walk away with a positive experience and view of each of our perspective organizations. Another way to differentiate your Skype call from your phone interview is to ask to speak with multiple people. Seeing how different people work and respond to the environment of the office speaks volumes about an organization!
LikeLike