American Society of Civil Engineers Foundation, Inc.

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

The ASCE Foundation supports civil engineers through the work of the American Society of Civil Engineers that represents more than 150,000 members of the civil engineering profession in 177 countries. ASCE stands at the forefront of a profession that plans, designs, constructs, and operates society’s economic and social engine – the built environment – while protecting and restoring the natural environment. Through the expertise of its active membership, ASCE is a leading provider of technical and professional conferences and continuing education, the world’s largest publisher of civil engineering content, and an authoritative source for codes and standards that protect the public.

How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Case management notes,

How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

The Foundation has changed its funding approach to focus on more directed funding to specific project efforts that will have a greater impact through education and leadership programs for civil engineers in sustainability, resilience, social justice and the health and welfare of the public. Using developmental approach, the Foundation has created an annual feedback loop with ASCE members and donors. This feedback loop, based on annual member and donor surveys, has allowed for the Foundation to become more responsive to the interests and level of knowledge of our community. We have adjusted the language we use so that our community may better understand our work and function within ASCE. We have shifted to ensure that we are focusing on our members’ and donors’ areas of interest.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board,

How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?

Since we began our evaluation effort, the community we serve has gotten an increased voice in a few ways. We use their feedback to help inform our program funding decisions. We inform staff and improve our responsiveness to our community’s feedback. This allows us to build a stronger rapport and relationships. The evaluation report is presented to our Board of Directors which gives our community a direct line of communication to our Board. In short, our evaluation effort has given the ASCE Foundation a direct channel to receive and distribute feedback internally and strengthen the voice of our community within our internal deliberations. These two communities are best able to help us assess the impact, skills, and growth that ASCE programs have provided.

Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We act on the feedback we receive,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback,