Title: “Dissonance and Disconnects: How Entry and Midlevel Foundation Staff See Their Institutions, Their Futures, and Their Field”
Organization: Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy
Summary: One in four entry-level and midlevel foundation employees think their organization’s work is not “relevant to what’s happening in the world today,” according to a survey released Wednesday. Forty percent think their organization is in touch with the needs of the people and places it supports, and 24 percent say those communities have a voice in the decisions the foundation makes.
In a further worrisome sign for grant makers, the survey of 114 foundation employees — nearly all millennials — also revealed that a significant share of people who work at those institutions don’t feel that they fit in. Fifty-one percent of survey respondents said they feel like they belong at their institution, while only 41 percent said they think their colleagues understand how to make people from less-privileged backgrounds or identities welcome in the workplace.
The study revealed a disconnect that could lead to turnover: While 77 percent said they are proud to work at their organizations, only 22 percent said they see a future for themselves there. Fifty-five percent of employees surveyed said they expect to leave philanthropy within five years.
Among the other findings from the survey, conducted by Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, a group that provides professional training and connections for young people working at foundations:
- Sixty-three percent of people surveyed were white. White people who responded to the survey were much more likely than people of color to say that grantees could offer feedback to their foundation without fear of reprisal: 63 percent of white employees said so versus 30 percent of employees of color.
- Only 28 percent of all respondents said their boards were “a strong ally for equity.”
- Foundation employees don’t think their organizations are nimble: Only a fourth said their foundation responds quickly to pressing issues in the communities they serve.
- LGBT employees were significantly less likely to feel they belong at their organizations: Only 39 percent said they felt included, compared with 54 percent of non-LGBT employees.
Correction: Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy has revised its findings, which originally said that half of foundation employees who responded to the survey thought their organization’s work was “relevant to what’s happening in the world today.” The revised report says that three-fourths think so.
