What do you think? Should foundations use public comment to strengthen feedback to applicants? Should the Stewardship Council try this approach? How about a trial run on our Initiative Fund proposals? We could post the Letters of Inquiry that have been asked to submit full proposals and post them on Facebook or our website and allow the greater community to provide constructive feedback. We would post the proposals without identifying information to ensure anonymity and fairness. People who wanted to comment would have to sign into the site before they could post, much like Wikipedia. Such a process might provide interesting and relevant insights that come when more minds are on a problem and could potentially strengthen the organization’s application, or point to new resources and partnerships. What are the benefits of doing something like this? What may be some of the pitfalls? Let us know what you think by commenting below.

The Story:
When Maine Health Access Foundation launched its Fund for the Future initiative in May it sent a request for proposals through its usual channels. Then it added a new twist. It launched a Facebook page to get broader feedback into the process.

Program Officer Len Bartel (left) explains:

“My intention was to really try to tap into that local knowledge and wisdom of other people on the ground—the boots on the ground in those communities—that might have a better sense of what relationships might work in a project and might not. Or other communities that have tried a similar project and would know, ‘Oh, this worked or this didn’t work with us.’  It would help grantees craft a stronger final proposal and, hopefully, have a better possibility of doing successful work. “
Visit the Fund for the Future Facebook page (most comments have been removed)
Learn more about the Maine Health Access Foundation