If you work in organizational learning, you probably don’t need convincing that it matters or that philanthropies should invest more in it. But making the case for that with leadership can be another story, and understandably so. There are always competing priorities and limited resources to address them.
We've found that the strongest case combines show and tell: articulate why learning matters in terms that connect with what your leaders care about and invite them to experience the benefits firsthand.
Different arguments and experiences will resonate with different leaders. Here are three common starting points we've seen across philanthropies, and some ideas for how you might show and tell for each.
Learning helps us make the most of our investments
Who this argument resonates with
These leaders value efficiency, accountability, and may lean more risk-averse. Their primary concern is whether the philanthropy is making smart choices with its resources. They care about:
- Efficiency
- Risk
- Governance and accountability
How to “make the case”
The case for learning with these leaders is that learning helps us make wiser bets, use resources well, and manage risk.
| Efficiency | Our funding is finite. How will we know where to spend our precious resources if we don’t assess our progress or understand where we may be falling short of expectations? When we learn from our work, we create the potential to improve how every future dollar is spent. |
| Risk | Learning helps us understand—before it's too late!—whether our work is making a positive difference or possibly causing harm. |
| Governance and accountability | Learning strengthens stewardship and accountability. It gives boards greater confidence that our decisions are informed by evidence, assumptions are being challenged, and resources are being used thoughtfully in pursuit of the foundation's mission. |
How to “show the case”
Invite leaders into real learning moments where evidence informs decisions. An upcoming grant review, for example, can become an opportunity to collectively examine outcomes, discuss their significance, and consider whether the grant should continue and what the learning means for similar investments.
We’ve also worked with philanthropies to create evidence boards and “evidence day” experiences, a concept first developed by Laudes Foundation. These take board members out of the boardroom and into learning conversations, allowing them to see firsthand how evidence and learning have informed the philanthropy’s strategic decisions.
Learning helps us be innovative and influence others
Who this argument resonates with
These leaders love the problem sets and the idea of creating or influencing change. They want to understand and communicate their impact, find better solutions, and influence progress in their foundation's areas of focus. They care about:
- Impact
- Innovation
- Influence
How to “make the case”
The case here is that learning helps us demonstrate and communicate impact, test new approaches that can be replicated, and contribute knowledge and influence beyond our own grants.
| Impact | We can't increase our impact if we don't understand what is contributing to it. Learning helps us generate credible evidence about what is working, what isn't, and why. |
| Innovation | We have the freedom to fund bold ideas that governments and markets often cannot. But we won’t know if an innovation works and is worth scaling and sharing unless we learn from it. |
| Influence | A philanthropy's influence can extend well beyond the grants it makes. When we intentionally capture and share what we are learning, we help shape conversations, strengthen the field, and enable others to build on our experience rather than starting from scratch. |
How to “show the case”
We recently supported a philanthropy in reviewing its pockets of progress across its portfolio. Participants left with a clearer understanding of their impact and took those insights to the C-Suite, whose response was essentially: Why weren’t we there? Sometimes the best “show” is a little FOMO, with trusted colleagues making the case for you.
Leaders are also regularly talking with donors, board members, and other key stakeholders. Sometimes what they need is simply a weekly email drawing from what you're learning, with a short, compelling story of impact or insight they can use at a dinner or in a meeting. When learning is immediately useful to them and helps them do their jobs, its value becomes much easier to see.
Learning helps us strengthen the organizations and the relationships behind the work
Who this argument resonates with
These leaders are “people-people.” Their primary concern is whether staff feel engaged, connected, and motivated, and whether external stakeholders value their relationships with the philanthropy. They care about:
- Culture
- Relationships
How to “make the case”
The case for learning with these leaders is that learning creates greater meaning and connection within our philanthropies and more trusting, honest relationships with those outside them.
| Culture | Many staff choose philanthropy because they want to make a meaningful difference in the world. Learning helps them see how their work contributes to that mission, creates opportunities to grow together, and reinforces the sense of purpose that brought them into philanthropy in the first place. |
| Relationships | Funding creates unavoidable power dynamics. Learning helps us build the trust and openness needed for grantees, communities, and partners to tell us what we need to hear, rather than only what they think we want to hear. |
How to “show the case”
Invite leaders into learning spaces where they can hear directly from staff, grantees, or partners. It’s important to first make sure participants are comfortable with leadership’s presence and that leaders know how to “show up” in ways that create rather than constrict space. A candid conversation about what people are learning, wrestling with, or excited about can surface insights while letting leaders experience firsthand the connection, openness, and shared sense of purpose that learning can create.
And once leaders have seen and experienced what learning can make possible, you can ask the bigger questions to institutionalize these approaches:
Wouldn't it be great if we were more systematic and intentional about learning, so these efforts weren't one-offs or dependent solely on individual staff initiative?