Project Biome

Who are the people you serve with your mission?

We serve a diverse population of stakeholders and producers within the agricultural sector. We include the broader population of citizens within that group because we are all eaters and have a stake in the quality, inclusiveness, and accessibility of our food system. We regularly conduct feedback campaigns with our audience as well as the subjects we feature in our storytelling work to better assess the tangible and intangible impacts of our work. These feedback mechanisms include surveys as well as long form written responses to questions after having viewed our productions. For more specialized programs that don't speak to mass audiences publicly, we track participation, attendance, and subjective feedback through surveys and established business processes.

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

Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Community meetings/Town halls, Suggestion box/email,

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

To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, 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,

What significant change resulted from feedback?

We've recently developed new accessible "on ramps" for folks that are less initiated in the world of regenerative agriculture. Often our stories reflect sophisticated and nuanced understandings of the forces at play within regenerative movements and existing food systems. We received feedback that those narratives are not always accessible to new audience members just learning about the space. We responded with beginning gardening courses, implementing more basic questions in our public panels, and adjusting content mixes to provide more accessible starting points for folks to engage our work, find community, and build understanding at a pace that is right for them.

With whom is the organization sharing feedback?

The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,

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

We've been able to deepened our individual relationships with our supporters and volunteers who participated in our feedback initiatives. We've been able to expand our discipline in experimenting and innovating new pathways to best reach a diverse audience, in particular, handing the platform over to a diverse "Circle of Creatives" that seek out stories and produce content that is aligned and appropriately representative of their personal lived experience. This has led to deeper connection with communities we have featured, increased comfort and willingness to vulnerably share their stories, and enhanced our ability to show up as an inclusive, community-driven platform where authenticity shines through.

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

We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, 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 people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,

What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,