We gather regular, anonymous feedback on the way we work at key points, and survey all applicants and organisations we fund every other year.
Feedback helps us to understand the changes we need to make to improve our support and ensure our processes meet the needs of the people and organisations we work with.
There are several ways people can give us feedback.
Regular, short feedback surveys on our application process
At key points in our funding process, we ask applicants and organisations we fund to complete a short anonymous survey to rate us on clarity, consistency and openness; along with sharing one thing they would change about our application process. We also ask those we fund to tell us one thing we could do to support them more effectively. The survey is quick to fill in, and completely anonymous.
We share results and suggestions with the staff team every quarter and this helps us to pick up and solve problems quickly.
Learning conversations
When we have end-of-grant learning conversations with organisations we fund, we ask how they found working with us and what we could do differently in future to support organisations we work with. We aggregate and share these suggestions quarterly with the staff team.
Biennial applicant and fundee survey
We have commissioned nfpResearch to find out about people’s experiences of working with us through a large-scale survey every two years. Findings are shared with Trustees and on our website. We identify actions we can take in response to the feedback and recommendations. You can see links to these below.
Email us
You can always email us your comments or suggestions, and a member of our team will get back to you.
Acting on feedback: what we’ve done in 2025
We’re sharing the actions we’ve taken in 2025 to improve our processes, make our guidance clearer, and support a more inclusive approach.
What do people think about Esmée Fairbairn Foundation 2024
We commissioned nfpResearch to survey successful and unsuccessful applicants about their experience of Esmée. Read a report of their key findings.
WWF UK - People's Plan for Nature
Acting on feedback: what we've done so far in 2023
After asking for your views on Esmée, we wanted to share back the steps we've taken so far to improve our processes and the information we share.
What do people think about Esmée Fairbairn Foundation 2022
We commissioned nfpResearch to find out what people really think about working with us, how that compares with other funders, and what we might need to change.