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At Health Forward Foundation, we are dedicated to supporting community-based nonprofits advancing race equity and economic opportunity toward health equity. Our goal is to enhance our partners’ capacity to improve health outcomes in our six-county service area in Kansas and Missouri.
In recent years, Health Forward has committed to the principles of “trust-based philanthropy,” where partner relationships are centered by listening and learning from them about what works best instead of directing what they need to achieve. By centering our partners in our work, we are sharing power and are working together to define success. This has resulted in shorter applications, no mandatory reports, unrestricted awards, multi-year funding, and increased support beyond the check.
In 2024, Health Forward concluded a grantee perceptions survey, commissioned with the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), – just one year into the implementation of our current purpose plan and strategies and process changes. We had a 57 percent response rate from 195 funded partner participants, providing valuable feedback on how well we support their work. Our staff, leadership, and board reviewed the findings during a series of facilitated conversations to understand opportunities to strengthen our work and relationships.
To know that there is a Foundation in our community dedicated to supporting non-profits that align with the vision of the Foundation is crucial. Supporting and building community power is profound.
Partners reported that Health Forward has had positive impacts on nuestra local communities. Ratings were lower for our impact on partners’ respective sectors and on public policy; these ratings were more in line with the “typical funder.” Partners view us as influencers in their fields/disciplines y lauded us for our role as “a philanthropic leader in the Kansas City community.”
Nosotros have major policy victories in recent years. Without Health Forward’s funding support, this definitely would not have been possible. Nosotros are able to maintain a strong, trusted reputation in the state’s advocacy community and at the state Capitol because Health Forward has ensured we are funded to do this work.
Health Forward’s commitment to equity, inclusion, and anti-racism has been exceptionally well-perceived, with partners rating us in the top ten percent of CEP’s overall dataset for demonstrating commitment, clearly communicating, and using our platform and voice to advance these issues. Partners also responded positively to our funding practices, particularly with ensuring inclusivity in our funding.
In their written comments, partners praised Health Forward’s work to promote equity in the region and in their own organizations. They share that Health Forward “is pioneering in the space of racial equity in philanthropy,” and “provides tools to aid organizations in strengthening their services to embrace inclusivity.
While Health Forward has made great strides, there are opportunities to further enhance our impact. Partners expressed a desire for more transparency about our priorities and plans for future funding opportunities. Additionally, there is room for improvement in the timeliness of communication during the initial selection and invitation process. Partners also indicated in both their ratings and written comments that their interactions with Health Forward staff could be further strengthened, citing examples of recent changes to their points-of-contacts, requesting more contact with their impact strategists, and a desire for more predictable or frequent interactions with staff. In their suggestions for ways that Health Forward could improve, one of the most common themes raised by partners was a desire for Health Forward to understand their organizations and work more deeply.
Partners expressed a desire for support beyond the gift, including more convening and collaboration “to learn, network, and socialize,” capacity building, assistance securing other funding, and highlighting partners’ work. In their written comments, several partners provided suggestions related to financiación characteristics, especially requests for more multi-year funding “to enable better program planning and sustainability.”
It would be fantastic if [Health Forward] hosted annual or quarterly in-person convening sessions with funded community partners to bring people and organizations together.
While financial support is crucial, amplifying capacity-building efforts can be equally transformative. Providing more tailored training, mentorship, and professional development opportunities for grantees could enhance their operational and strategic capabilities, leading to greater overall impact.
We were encouraged to see that some of the feedback received was in line with several practices already in development. For example, we have recently implemented new process changes that increase transparency and timely communications. We are holding more consultations to provide applicants with the knowledge and resources to submit strong applications and save organizations resources by helping them determine if their work aligns with the funding opportunity in advance of an application submission. We also provide applicants with an opportunity for a consultation when funding is not awarded, at their request.
Throughout 2024 and 2025, our staff have prioritized relationship-building and better listening with funded partners. When we shifted to gifting in 2024, we implemented partner check-ins in lieu of required reporting to be more closely connected to partner work, foster deeper understanding, and learn from their stories in their voices.
We have made sizable increases to multi-year funding — in 2024, 64% of total partner funding was multi-year compared to 24% in 2022. Unrestricted funding is nearly universal, with 95% of our partner funding in 2024 being unrestricted, up from 44% in 2022 and 0% in 2020.
Health Forward is prioritizing partner needs and relationships, building and engaging in cohort learning communities, and identifying opportunities to center community voice in our resources and engagements.
Over the past two years, we have become more intentional, consistent, and effective at offering support beyond the check. We survey partners to ask what support they need and, in response, contract with organizations to provide services to our partners, including learning and networking opportunities as well as back-office support. We directly engage a fiscal sponsoring organization to assist with positioning many of our partners for success with their nonprofit operations. We also provide wellness and leadership coaching support to many of our partners.
We have worked over the past two years to establish ourselves as key players in equity, inclusion, anti-racism, and immigration conversations, ensuring these issues remain a priority for the civic and business community and we routinely engage in policy and advocacy on the state level on issues related to DEI y immigration.
While we were encouraged to see that several of the areas of growth opportunities have already been recognized and addressed, we know we can always have room to grow. In 2025 and 2026, we will take concrete steps to be more responsive and transparent; continue to engage with and provide partners with unrestricted and low barrier supports; offer ongoing support beyond the gift and opportunities for partners to come together; and uplift the stories of our partners’ work. Health Forward will also continue to offer spaces and mechanisms to incorporate your voice and needs into our funding opportunities and convenings.
For all of you that responded to the survey, we thank you for your thoughtful feedback and time. We are planning for future CEP surveys, including one launched in July 2025 with stakeholders broadly (i.e. beyond our funded partners), and another like this in 2027/2028 for feedback from our funded partners. We are committed to continuous learning and improvement to better serve our partners and support them in their work to achieve health equity and secure a fair and just region.
