Checklist: Building a Knowledge Sharing Culture

Use the items below to cultivate a thriving knowledge sharing culture at your organization. Which of the items are in place at your foundation? Which could be established in the near term or in the longer term?

  • Our foundation explicitly values knowledge sharing.
  • Foundation leaders model and discuss with staff the integral role of knowledge sharing in conducting the foundation’s work.
  • Knowledge sharing is understood across the foundation as a key part of the job, not secondary to grantmaking.
  • Knowledge sharing practices are integrated throughout our work, not reliant on a staff member to enforce them.
  • We share many different types of knowledge.
  • Position descriptions and performance reviews emphasize knowledge sharing.
  • Our culture is one of experimentation; failure—and learning from that failure—is expected.
  • We promote knowledge sharing across the philanthropic sector.

Takeaways are critical, bite-sized resources either excerpted from our guides or written by Candid Learning for Funders using the guide's research data or themes post-publication. Attribution is given if the takeaway is a quotation.

This takeaway was derived from Open for Good.