Over the past two years, our team at the Alliance has traversed the continent to visit all 26 Economic Opportunity grantee partners, spread across 16 countries. Along the way, we learned a few lessons we want to share with other funders considering – or reconsidering – how they approach site visits.
Funders can gain so much from investing the time, energy, and resources to visit grantees. Site visits can turn what was once abstract into something tangible: no longer just application forms and reports that land in our inbox every day but people with vision, uplifting stories, and courageous struggles. After every visit, we return to our office in Brussels better informed and better connected, and, we hope, as better funders.
Meet grantee partners where they are
When we first launched our Economic Opportunities sub-fund in 2023, we promised to “meet partners where they are.” We did this in more ways than one, including reducing reporting requirements as much as possible, but also quite literally meeting them on their home turf.
We have found that there is no real substitute for showing up in person, sitting down in their offices, and meeting their teams. It has helped us understand better what they do, why, and how. Conversations flow more openly. Trust deepens. And further down the line, it makes grant management – and every other aspect of our work – smoother. Seeing their programmes in action has also given us, as funders, a sneak peak into how organisations operate and engage with their communities.
Site visits can also broaden a funder’s knowledge of the wider ecosystem. Some trips revealed challenging realities on the ground in a way that no report ever could: activists keeping their offices anonymous for safety, or staff working under immense stress in polarised political environments where election outcomes can undo years of progress and hinder their ability to support marginalised communities.
Understanding challenges grantee partners face in their everyday work can equip any funder, regardless of the issue areas they focus on, to become better advocates and even allies. For example, by having honest, in-person conversations about the needs of our grantee partners, we gained a stronger grasp of how civic space is shrinking around Europe and the ways that philanthropy can step up to mobilise more and better funding for civil society.
Asking grantees who else we should meet helped us discover other local organisations and better understand the context in which our partners operate. This is especially valuable for grant-makers who work across a wide geographical portfolio and need to strengthen their knowledge of trends across a broad region.
Funders aiming to have a more direct impact can also use site visits as opportunities to meet with policy makers and public officials, both national and EU representatives in the country.
Be clear about expectations
Many of us working in the philanthropic sector are aware of the power dynamic within the funder-grantee relationship that can often lead to grantees feeling pressure to “perform”. Even when the funder’s intention is to support and learn, it can make site visits feel intimidating.
At times, this played out in practice during our visits: some partners prepared full-day agendas involving their entire staff. Their plans were generous, and we were grateful for their kind hospitality, but our intention was not to take up so much time or add extra pressure or burden, especially for the small, frontline grassroots teams we fund. We realised that we had not been clear enough about our expectations. Visits should not feel like an exam.
A better way to approach site visits is to be explicit and transparent about the intentions. In the future, we will specify that these site visits are check-ins, informal opportunities to exchange, and moments to share updates about the Alliance, to solicit feedback about our giving, and to thank organisations for their efforts.
Another way to mitigate the power dynamic is to set out a light agenda and share a list of specific questions in advance, so everyone knows what to expect while still leaving enough space for organic conversations. The aim is not to monitor or evaluate a grantee’s performance but get to know them and build a relationship on as much of a level field as possible while being mindful of their limited resources and time.
Timing matters
From our experience, site visits are most meaningful when they align with grantees’ activities or events. It was a privilege to take part in a confidence-building sewing workshop for women from one of the poorest districts in Europe held by Per Esempio‘s partner Handala, as well as a business management training held by Tracanelupa for survivors of violence who are rebuilding their life and financial independence.
This not only brings the programs we financially support to life, but even more importantly, it reduces the burden on partners to “host” us outside of their usual activities.
Despite our best intention to visit when grantees invite us, it rarely unfolded in this way. In the future, we will make it clearer that, whenever possible, we are happy to come when it makes the most sense for them. For new partners, that means investing the time needed to build relationships. For long-term Economic Opportunities grantees who we already know well, it means seizing opportunities as they arise, whether at a public event, a report launch, or to meet a specific learning need.
Ask for feedback but make it a two-way exchange
Open-ended questions, such as “Do you have any feedback for us?”, rarely work because of the power dynamic between grantees and funders. To overcome this, we have found that asking specific questions about aspects of our support, from grants to grantee convenings, tend to invite more responses and recommendations.
In some cases, longer conversations allow grantees to go deeper once trust has been established. It also gives funders the space to clarify that everything has been understood well and to pick up on the nuances of their suggestions. When we do receive feedback, we reassure our partners that this feedback is welcomed, taken seriously, and will be integrated into our future workplans, whenever or as much as possible.
One bold idea that we are currently exploring came from the grantees themselves: what if site visits weren’t just funders visiting grantees, but grantees visiting each other? At least one grantee has already used the organisational development grants we provide in this way. After visiting Oram in Germany, ShoutOut, an organisation based in Ireland, reported the value of this type of close exchange. It helped ShoutOut get out of its own “bubble”, foster a sense of cross-border, pan- European solidarity, and start exploring future collaborations together.
When funders ask for honest feedback and give the conversation enough time and space to breathe, and then also act on what they hear, they can build a more open and trust-based relationship with their grantee partners.
Prioritise inclusion and care
We know that the organisations we fund – those expanding rights and opportunities for marginalised women, as well as trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people – are some of the most affected by the rise in anti-gender rhetoric and policies. This places them on the frontlines of defending democracy, human rights, economic inclusion, and so much more.
Out of respect for the work they do and the risks they take every day, we pay special attention to how our actions impact them. It only makes sense to take responsible measures to consider safety, accessibility, and inclusion when meeting with grantees and the communities they work with.
Over the course of our journey, we have developed codes of conduct to guide our team and ensure we always uphold the highest standards of care. This means, for example, respecting the dignity of vulnerable individuals, being considerate and empathetic, asking consent before taking photos, safeguarding confidentiality, and respecting the privacy of everyone involved.
By valuing the expertise of grantee partners, funders can learn from them about what they need to feel safe and empowered.
In terms of accessibility, we acknowledge that site visits are mostly conducted in English or a language spoken by the visiting staff member, which does not make them inclusive for everyone. To go the extra mile, funders can consider hiring interpreters where resources allow.
Looking ahead, we will also make sure to inquire about other accessibility needs ahead of time, so meetings are as inclusive as possible for everyone we meet.
Header photo: The Alliance team visiting our grantee partner ShoutOut in Ireland. Photo: Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe.