The Tull Charitable Foundation is committed to partnerships built on a foundation of transparency, trust, and mutual accountability.

In 2023, the Foundation engaged the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) to collect candid perspectives of our grantees to improve the effectiveness of our grantmaking. This valuable feedback and insights are helping the Tull Foundation remain as impactful as possible with the organizations and, hence, communities we are privileged to support. We chose CEP because their survey-based assessments are designed to seek insights from our most important stakeholders, providing actionable benchmarking across hundreds of funders of every type and size.
The results of the CEP Grantee Perception Survey and our continuing efforts to improve in response to that feedback are shared below.

Our Response

We believe in building transparent and trusting partnerships. The feedback we received is guiding our efforts to continue to be relational and responsive, particularly in improving the grantee experience. The following is an update on our steps taken to respond to the findings in the Grantee Perception Report:

LOI and Grant Application Process Improvements
  • Spring-Summer 2023: Together with the R. Howard Dobbs, Jr. Foundation and the Sartain Lanier Family Foundation, we worked to create a common LOI and to streamline the grant application. Word count suggestions are included as a guide in any narrative fields to make the best use of an applicant’s time.
  • June 2024: We updated the Foundation’s grant agreements to better reflect the partnerships we seek to build with grantees. Rather than requiring grant reports, the Foundation now requests updates on the progress made towards the goals that grantees outlined in their application. New grantee partners also have the option to provide updates on the use of the grant funds at a meeting with Foundation staff, rather than through written submissions.
Reporting Improvements
  • September 2023: We informed grantees that we moved to annual reporting instead of semi-annual reporting, effective immediately.
  • Fall 2023: All interim and final reports are submitted electronically through the Giving Data grants management portal, rather than by mail or email.
  • Winter 2023: We focused the content and amount of information requested in annual reports. Interim reports now ask for a list of funding commitments and for a description of the progress made towards the completion of the project (with 750-word max). Final reports now ask for a list of funding commitments and a brief narrative of what has been accomplished and the impact on the organization’s strategic goals (with 750-word max).
  • June 2024: We changed language in our grant agreements to reflect the partnerships we seek to build with grantees. The terms report and reporting are being replaced with update and updating. Grant agreements have incorporated this change.
Communications
  • By the Fall 2024, the Foundation will clarify language on our website to provide grantees with a clearer picture of Tull’s broader efforts and how their funded work fits into the Foundation’s funding priorities.
  • By the end of 2024, the Foundation will provide an updated communications plan based on the feedback we received in a series of focus groups with grantees who were invited to participate in the CEP survey.