THE TRILLIUM STAKE HOLDER SURVEY

AND THE SURVEY SAID........

   It is the easiest thing in the world for a funder to get isolated from its own constituency. Although we are committed to working side-by-side with our applicants, and to being flexible and responsive, we are also aware of the danger of the other Golden Rule: "He who has the gold, makes the rules." That's not who we are, or who we want to be. We believe that Trillium's funds are a sacred trust, and that we are the stewards, with the responsibility of ensuring that every dollar is used effectively. We do that by being grounded in what our constituency wants and needs from us. We have a number of strategies for ensuring this. The first is by involving a large number of volunteers from across the province in every aspect of our work. The second is through continuous consultation with individuals and groups. And the third strategy is through formal surveys.
   Our most recent survey, undertaken in late summer, involved all groups receiving a grant in 1995/96, as well as an equal number of randomly selected groups which applied for a grant but were declined. All volunteers were included, as well, for a total of 466 surveys. The purpose of this survey was 1) to assess the level of our customer service; 2) to get a broader perspective on some of the fundamental choices we face in developing our program; 3) to get the stakeholder's vision of Trillium; and 4) to find out what critical issues and opportunities organizations will face in the near future.
   Following are some highlights from the results related to our customer service and program directions. We were pleased with the 50% response rate, and thank all of you who took the time to fill out this extensive survey.

Complete results, which also include the key challenges and opportunities of our constituents, can be found on our Web site.

Customer Service

Your responses were reassuring. No respondents said we were not respectful in our dealings with them. No one said they did not find us to be fair and honest or warm and friendly. Were we timely and responsive? 88% said yes, 9% said somewhat. Helpful and informative? 99% responded yes or somewhat. 91% found our response rate to be very prompt or prompt.
   (If you wonder why this is important, consider that we receive over 27,000 calls a year, and most require some follow-up by one of our 13 staff. It is our goal to treat each caller and visitor with warmth and respect, no matter how small the inquiry or how heavy our workload. )
   61% said they were clear or somewhat clear about why their application had not been approved. This is an area we continue to work on.
   83% of respondents said they were clear about reporting and evaluation requirements, and 93% said these were reasonable. We have since revised them, and will monitor your feedback.

Our Program

   At both the program development stage and in the grantmaking process, decisions and directions generally aren't either a "yes" or a "no". Often what we are dealing with are trade-offs, judgement calls, and a balance of competing opportunities. We wanted to know how our constituents would approach some of the larger issues we are dealing with, to let us know whether we are on the right track. Respondents were asked to mark on the point of the scale where they would balance the two competing opportunities. The chart details how you responded.
   Despite the difficulty in finding - and the need for - core funding and support for social service delivery, not many respondents believe it is Trillium's primary role to provide it. Choices cluster toward the middle to right of the scale, indicating a significant role for Trillium in funding emerging groups, the interrelatedness of issues, and projects from which many can learn.

Your Vision of Trillium

In this part of the survey we provided nearly 100 words and asked respondents to choose the five which best described their vision of Trillium. We clustered the words that were similar, and pulled out the key word. The vision our constituents would like us to aspire to is:

-  experimental (94)
-  empowering (92)
-  visionary (60)
-  catalyst (60)
-  initiator (52)

   We were both overwhelmed and pleased by what we saw as an endorsement of our role. We feel that our own vision is similar to what our constituents want from us. It seems that most people see Trillium not as a government funder, or even a replacement for government funding, but rather a source of funds for "lighting the way" - for trying out and learning new ways of working together to meet the challenges of the future.
   [A picture of the Stakeholder Survey Results]

[A picture of the Stakeholder Survey Results]

We found the survey results very helpful. It gives us encouragement to go on in our current direction and reassurance that we are meeting our commitments to customer service. However, although we received many wonderful comments, not everyone is happy with us. A number of respondents expressed frustration about being declined, and being uncertain why. (One respondent felt that the only fair process would be to give all applicants a number and pick them out of a hat.) Some didn't understand, or like, specific aspects of our program. Our administrative systems failed for others. We take every concern and complaint seriously, and we are committed to getting better at what we do, and to holding ourselves accountable for our decisions and actions. The feedback, good and bad, helps us develop effective and responsive systems and programs.
But please don't wait for another survey. We are always happy to hear from you.