Esmée keeps reporting proportionate by accepting existing reports where possible and complements them with learning conversations that help both the organisation and funder reflect on progress, challenges, impact, and lessons learned.
Reporting
We ask organisations for a progress report on their grant each year. Where possible, we encourage them to submit a report that they already produce (board report, impact report, annual report), rather than using our bespoke form.
39% of organisations we fund submit a report they’ve already produced for their board or another funder, saving 187 organisations a year from days of additional report writing.
As a funder that gives core and unrestricted grants, organisations’ reports usually cover progress towards the grant outcomes, but if we need more information we will give them a call.
Learning conversations
We worked with IVAR on a “better reporting” project in 2018. When we asked funded organisations how to improve reporting, they didn’t want to change the questions on a form - they wanted to speak to funders directly.
We hold two “learning conversations” for each grant:
Mid-grant conversation
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A conversation to reflect on the outcomes and progress so far (both successes and challenges). It’s a space for open communication, a chance to understand changes in context for the work, and for us to capture key learning. We can also find out what more we could do to support the work’s impact, eg offering funding plus support, making connections.
End of grant conversation
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A conversation to reflect on the whole grant period - what has changed in the context for the organisation’s work and the people its works with, as well as where and why work has struggled or made progress. We also ask organisations what Esmée could have done differently to support them, or to make the work a success. After the conversation we rate progress as on/off track for each outcome and rate Esmée’s contribution to the work, as well as recording useful learning for our strategy.
Peak Cymru
Next: Recording and analysing what we learn
Esmée captures learning from reports and conversations, analyses it to identify patterns and insights, and uses dashboards and regular reviews to understand progress and inform decisions across its strategy.