If Philanthropy 101 got to the heart of giving, and Research 101 is where the mind comes in, then Site Visits 101 got at the soul of philanthropy, where the heart and mind come together to get to the exciting moment of saying yes to making the grant, the decision, the gift.
At today’s Site Visits 101 session, part of our Philanthropic Education series led by Siobhán O’Riordan, 25 women gathered to learn the ins and outs of conducting a successful site visit that will unearth the true essence of a potential nonprofit partner.
Through a participatory workshop wherein participants discussed the objectives, value and logistics of a site visit and then took on the roles of site visitor and site visitee, the group revealed these essential key components of an effective site visit:
1. Be selective about who you visit. Because site visits require extensive preparation on the part of the nonprofit, you should limit visits only to those groups who have an excellent shot at being funded. This doesn’t mean 100 percent, but it means that by looking at the proposal, you can see no reason that they wouldn’t be funded, and that you’ve already gone through a serious process to select a few finalists for site visits. The optimal ratio for a site visit would be that an organization has a 2 in 3 or 50/50 shot at receiving funding.
2. Do your homework. The organization you’re visiting will likely be in a preparation frenzy to plan a perfect site visit from the moment they recieve your call. Be sure you’ve also done your homework. Be sure you have thoroughly read their proposal and other materials and that you’ve met with your site visit team mates to establish questions and roles.
Ideally site visit teams, if you’re doing the visit as part of a giving circle or selection panel rather than as an individual, should include 2-3 people. Any more, and the site visit could lose focus, go too long or unintentionally intimidate the nonprofit and constrain conversation.
Before heading out, teams may want to clarify who will "lead" on the visit, and who will take notes, so that you end up with good notes at the end, but also have one or two people who can remain focused on the discussion, making eye contact and keeping the meeting friendly and informal.
3. Call first…and go ahead and spill the beans. "Site visits are not about the element of surprise," said Siobhán. Call ahead to schedule the visit, and be sure to give plenty of notice so as to enable the organization to really put their best foot forward. Site visits take a tremendous amount of preparation on the part of the the nonprofit, so to truly get a sense of who they are, you’ll need to allow them time to plan. Among the items to let the nonprofit know:
- The questions you’ll be asking.
- What materials to have prepared.
- The day and time of the site visit.
- That you’d like to schedule the visit at a time that will enable you to see programs in action.
4. Be friendly (but not too friendly)! The purpose of a site visit is to learn as much as possible about an organization, and to really get at the heart of what they do. This will be best achieved if the nonprofit’s staff feel that they can speak with you openly and that the site visit is more of a dialogue than an interrogation. Be friendly and empathetic, allow ample time for the organization to respond to questions and provide positive feedback when possible and appropriate.
That said, on a site visit, never make any promises, commitments or recommendations (this is a time to get information, not solve problems) or compare the nonprofit to others you’ve visited, and maintain a professional demeanor at all times.
5. Learn, learn, learn! As you’re on the site visit, consider both subjective (How knowledgeable and accessible are the staff? How is the energy of the program participants?) and objective information (What is their evaluation data? How are they showing success?), each of which will be valuable to you as you reflect on and eventually select an organization to fund.
But throughout the process, remember that this is a great opportunity to learn about the issue you’re interested in, the nonprofit sector in general and to continually gauge and ascertain your personal values and interests as they relate to your philanthropic giving.
And that’s the latest from another fun, informative workshop as part of our philanthropic education series!
Drop us a comment if you have any questions or other thoughts or suggestions related to the important task of conducting a site visit!
And to learn more about our Philanthropy 101 series or to recieve email updates about upcoming workshops, please email Siobhán at soriordan@wawf.org.
