Site Visit Guide and Resources

Nonprofit organizations often receive visits from donors and representatives of philanthropic institutions. These meetings are usually held at the nonprofit's location as part of a funder’s grant review or monitoring process and can lead to a deepening of the relationship between the grantmaker and the grantseeker.

Because the site visit experience requires an investment of planning, time, and expense, it is a frequent topic of discussion for all involved. Is there a clear purpose for the visit? How do we minimize disruption of operations? Who do we involve and how do we prepare and protect them?

Improving the Experience for Both the Nonprofit and the Funder

In 2023, Philanthropy MA’s Mid-to-Senior Level Program Staff Learning Network – one of our 17 funder networks and collaboratives – held a program titled Site Visits to Deepen Knowledge & Relationships at which more than 50 funders participated. The session featured a panel of three nonprofit executives and was informed by a survey of our nonprofit community. Their recommendations were heard by funders and inspired further action.

After a yearlong process of working with hundreds of representatives from philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, we are publishing the learnings and calls to action in Successful Site Visits Guidance, Strategies, and Tips for Funder and Nonprofits. This guide is full of tips and best practices for making visits successful, efficient, respectful, and beneficial for all involved. It also includes some common mistakes to avoid.

The guide and supporting resources are living documents, meaning they will be refreshed and adapted as the dictated by the field. Please share your observations and recommendations with our team here. We value your input and look forward to evolving these resources with you.

Link to Site Visit Guide

Successful Site Visits Guidance, Strategies, and Tips for Funders and Nonprofits.

Link to Checklists

A checklist for nonprofits and a checklist for funders to use in preparation of visits.

Link to Other Resources

A list of external resources.

The Philanthropy MA team is grateful to the following leaders for bringing this project to life:

The program staff learning network for initiating this process, especially Amy Hampe (Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation) and Melanie Torres (Klarman Family Foundation) for shepherding the project throughout.
The working group members who stepped up to synthesize the learnings, plan the joint meetings, and review and edit the documents. They include Amy and Melanie mentioned above as well as Tania Buck (Somerville YMCA), Lisa Crane (HopeWell Inc.), and Kristina Dakos (Women4Progress).
The 50 nonprofits who participated in the survey, the more the 150 nonprofits and funders who participated in the Site Visits: Let’s Improve Them working meeting in March 2024, and the 130 attendees at the rollout/feedback meeting in October 2024.

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