Scanning the Landscape

Finding Out What's Going On In Your Field

 

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Grant makers relate their experiences in surveying issues and activities in a field and testing their ideas and observations with experienced practitioners before committing resources. Learn how to get started with a scan, explore its benefits and methods, insure that it gets diverse input, and discover ways it can contribute to the field and inform people of your objectives.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Understanding what a scan can do for you
  • Shaping your scan to meet different needs
  • Getting diverse viewpoints and using what you learn
A CLOSER LOOK:

Seven grant makers share how they build networks to discover the unexpected in their fields and communities.

SAMPLE QUOTES

"I began to realize that my job was not to have all the answers, but to have my eyes and ears open wide enough so that I could find the strategies that help solve the problems I wanted to work on."

— A grant maker remembering what he hoped a scan would do for him

"We had been making grants in our field for a long time, but we weren't really building new institutions any more. We were just propping up the old tent poles. We weren't really thinking about the future of the field. The scan we did helped us adjust our program to reflect what is currently happening in the field."

— A grant maker on how she used what she learned

"A strong grant program needs to include all kinds of organizations and viewpoints. It's risky to have everything riding on one type of organization or one point of view."

— A grant maker recalling the importance and benefit of getting of diverse viewpoints

MORE ON THIS SUBJECT

Marketing Your Knowledge
The Williams Group,
commissioned by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation
This report is clear and conversational in discussing some innovative strategies grant makers can use to share knowledge within the field. The piece is based on interviews with philanthropy professionals on the challenges and advantages of disseminating information — the resulting advice ("Ten Practices that Work") is smart and provocative.
[PDF - 19 pages]