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Reflection Guide

The following guide lists suggestions of how an organization might reflect throughout the year, and particularly closer to the end of the grant period, when an end-of-grant report is due. This guide is not meant to be turned in to Woods Fund. It is intended to provide tips for reflection & organizational thinking along our principles of participation and learning.

NOTE: As this is our first year using this document, we are especially interested in your feedback on usefulness, timeliness, and overall structure.

Organizational Reflection

One of the most powerful tools for learning is reflection. Even taking an occasional hour out of your work can provide you with an opportunity to see how much you are accomplishing and take a closer look at what works and what needs to be changed.

Throughout the Year

Once a quarter, bring together key people in your organization and take an hour to think about the effort you are expending on your work and what it is accomplishing. Where is your organization’s energy going, and what are you gaining for your effort?

Also during these reflection moments ask if you would act in the same way next year. What would you change? Why? By taking time outside the day-to-day of running your programs you may think about a new way to approach an issue.

If your plans changed, what were the factors that led you to change your plan? Was your original plan not as solid as you had hoped, or was there an external event that impacted your plans? If your plans change, it may be helpful to document the process as it happens and share it with funders and other supporters to help them adjust their expectations.

Learning Opportunities

Because Woods Fund sees its grantee partners as experts in their fields, we are interested in knowing what is influencing your thinking. If you have done any reading, attended convenings or conferences, or had a really impactful meeting with a colleague or cohort, we would like to know about them. Feel free to share them with your program officer during the year.

Preparing for the End of Grant Report

Our report form is designed as a learning document, and we encourage you to use it as a learning opportunity for your whole organization. Have a special staff or board meeting prior to the report deadline and discusses the report questions as a group. Then, compile the report based on their input. Not only will the report better represent the current thinking of the entire organization, but it also provides an opportunity to reflect together over the past year, and to recognize your accomplishments.