What Message Are You Sending To Grantees?

If I had a career do-over, I might choose to be a signage expert. I am constantly appalled by poor signage, and occasionally impressed by excellent signage. To me, useful, informative, and strategically placed signs are one way for people to be kind to each other. “We’re thrilled you chose come to Stanford University’s campus, our signs will help you find your way.” “Road closed ahead? Don’t worry, our signs will provide turn by turn directions and explain how we are redirecting you.”

Good signs signal “we’re glad to have you,” “we care about you and your experience,” “put your feet up and relax.” Bad signs tell us we aren’t wanted, our experience doesn’t matter, nobody cares.

I traveled to New York City for a fabulous workshop offered by a global expert on business relationships, Andrew Sobel (@andrewsobel) Cold, tired, and a bit overwhelmed by the bustle of 5th Avenue, I was delighted to see this sign welcoming me into St. Patrick’s Cathedral(@StPatsNYC)

I’m not Catholic (I’m not even particularly religious), but I felt cared for and had full confidence that I — a non church member and non NYC resident — was welcome to come in, sit down, walk around, pray, admire the architecture – whatever I wanted to do.

A few months ago I was in Minneapolis conducting site visits for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. I was appalled to see this unwelcoming sign from the Marriott greeting me on my way to my room (after I had paid for for 3 people to stay at this hotel on a business trip).

Assuming the worst in people and treating them like they are rowdy 7th graders on a school trip is no way to provide hospitality. After all, aren’t I (the sign reader) one of the guests that people should be considerate of?

We should all ask ourselves: what do our signs say? What messages are we communicating to those who matter most – our clients, customers, partners, grantseekers, and community members? What is the user experience when they call us, wait weeks or for a return email, or go to our foundation’s website looking for information? How do grantseekers feel waiting in our waiting rooms? These are our customers, the ones helping us achieve our missions.

Other articles by Kris:  Sharpen Your Focus - 5 Questions That Will Improve Your Grantmaking, Increase Your Impact with Funding Partnerships - 6 Avenues to Explore, The Power of Taking Stock - 5 Reasons to Conduct Evaluations

Kris Putnam-Walkerly is a national philanthropy expert and president of Putnam Consulting Group, Inc.