What Can We Learn from Community Foundation Nationwide That Have Supported Neighboring

Across the United States there are a growing number of community foundations that have intentionally invested in belonging, neighboring, social cohesion, and bridging social capital rather than simply funding direct services.

One interesting finding is that while many foundations describe these efforts as “belonging” or “community connectedness,” only a handful have published meaningful evaluation data.

The strongest examples we will look at in-depth include the following.

1. Lancaster County Community Foundation (Pennsylvania)

This is probably the best U.S. example of a foundation intentionally investing in belonging across differences.

Campaign: The foundation spent years convening residents around difficult conversations about immigration, race, faith, politics and civic life rather than simply making grants. Their work evolved into the One Community / Building Bridges initiative and broader efforts around common ground. The Council on Foundations highlights how the foundation deliberately brought together business leaders, schools, nonprofits, faith organizations, immigrant communities and local residents to counter misinformation and increase trust across differences.  

Main website

Community Bridge Builderswebsite

How they measured success

Rather than counting only grants, they looked at: Growth in cross-sector partnerships, number of organizations collaborating, resident participation, increased civic dialogue, community trust built through repeated engagement, and new collaborative projects launched. They also documented qualitative evidence that organizations that had never previously worked together continued collaborating after the initiative.  

 

2. Midland Area Community Foundation (Michigan)

This is probably the closest example to what many people mean by Neighboring.

Campaign: The foundation’s Cultural Awareness Coalition revived Neighboring Week, encouraging residents to: host block parties, organize neighborhood meals, create neighborhood scavenger hunts, hold art events, celebrate diversity, and meet people living nearby. Rather than staff creating all activities, residents received mini-grants and created their own events.  

Website for neighboring week

How they measured success

They tracked: Number of community-created events, resident participation, growth in volunteer leadership. number of organizations participating, community ownership (more resident-led events each year), and expansion of neighborhood stipends. One particularly interesting measure was the shift from foundation-led programming to resident-led programming—evidence that neighboring had become part of community culture.  

 

3. The Columbus Foundation (Ohio)

The Columbus Foundation has taken a unique approach by establishing the Center for Human Kindness, an initiative devoted to building social capital through everyday acts of kindness. Rather than focusing exclusively on charitable giving, the Center encourages residents to intentionally strengthen neighborhoods and communities by helping people feel seen, valued, and connected.

Its Kindness Close to Home campaign specifically encourages neighbors to build stronger local relationships through simple acts of kindness and community engagement. The Center also recognizes organizations through its annual Human Kindness Prize, celebrates everyday kindness stories in local media, and provides resources that encourage kindness as a community-wide practice rather than an occasional event.

How they measure success

Unlike many traditional grant programs, the Center focuses on indicators of community connection. These indicators include: participation in kindness campaigns; community stories highlighting acts of kindness; partnerships with nonprofits, businesses, schools, and media; recognition of organizations demonstrating exceptional kindness; increased opportunities for neighbors to connect through local initiatives; and building a culture of kindness that strengthens belonging and social capital across Central Ohio.

Website for HumanKindness

4. Charlottesville Area Community Foundation

This work focused on strengthening nonprofits and equity as a pathway to community belonging. Their published impact includes: volunteer hours, nonprofit capacity increases, ROI from skilled volunteering, number of nonprofit matches, and organizational growth.

While not a neighboring campaign per se, it demonstrates how foundations measure stronger civic infrastructure.  

Website: https://cacfonline.org/

 

5. Knight Foundation (Excellent fit)

Although Knight doesn't use the word "neighboring" very often, it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in strengthening community attachment, civic engagement, public spaces, and local participation. Their most influential work was the Soul of the Community study conducted with Gallup. Over three years they surveyed more than 43,000 residents in 26 communities and discovered something that surprised many civic leaders: Economic growth was driven less by jobs and more by residents' emotional attachment to their community.

The strongest predictors of attachment were: Social offerings, Openness and welcoming culture, Aesthetics, and Places where people gather.

Those findings have influenced community foundations nationwide.

Main Website

6. Aspen Institute – Weave: The Social Fabric Project

This project represents one of the nation's most ambitious investments in rebuilding trust, belonging, and social capital. Founded by author David Brooks in 2018, Weave identifies and supports everyday "weavers"—ordinary residents who quietly bring neighbors together, build relationships across differences, and strengthen the social fabric of their communities.

In 2025, the project received a $22.4 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to dramatically expand this work nationwide. Rather than funding only traditional nonprofit programs, the initiative partners with community organizations to distribute thousands of small Weaver Awards directly to individuals and informal neighborhood groups working to build stronger relationships where they live.

Main website

How they measure success

Unlike many grant programs that focus primarily on services delivered, Weave emphasizes relationship-building and community trust. Its evaluation focuses on:

• Individuals and neighborhood groups supported through Weaver Awards
• Community organizations serving as local hosts
• New neighborhood relationships formed
• Resident-led community projects
• Leadership development for local "weavers"
• Stories demonstrating increased trust, belonging, and collaboration
• Growth of peer learning networks among community leaders

Perhaps most importantly, Weave measures success by identifying and investing in people who naturally bring others together, recognizing that healthy communities are built one relationship at a time.

7. Colorado Gives Foundation

This project is developing and will be added here when details become public.

Common ways foundations measure belonging

Across these examples, the most useful measures fall into six categories:

Participation: Event attendance, volunteers, neighborhoods involved.

Relationships: New partnerships, cross-sector collaborations, repeat participation.

Resident leadership: Resident-led projects, mini-grant applications, neighborhood organizers.

Social cohesion: Survey questions about trust, feeling welcome, knowing neighbors, willingness to help.

Civic engagement: Volunteerism, local leadership, participation in community decision-making.

Narrative change: Resident stories, media coverage, perceptions of inclusion and belonging.

 

Final Observation

Most successful community foundations are no longer serving solely as grantmakers. They are becoming community conveners. Rather than simply funding programs, they are creating opportunities for residents to know one another, trust one another, and work together across neighborhoods, organizations, and differences.

Whether the language is neighboring, belonging, bridge building, human kindness, or social cohesion, the underlying investment is remarkably similar. These foundations recognize that strong communities are built on strong relationships. They understand that social connection is not a byproduct of healthy communities but one of the essential ingredients that makes healthy communities possible. Their work suggests that the future of philanthropy may be measured not only by the dollars invested, but also by the relationships formed, the trust strengthened, and the sense of belonging created. For communities seeking to become more resilient, welcoming, and engaged, that may be one of the most important investments of all.

 

WRITTEN BY

David L. Burton

For more information, visit the Engaged Neighbor website. Take our pledge and become part of a movement! Or subscribe to our newsletter. Access some of the research documents written by David Burton, the author of this blog. Or better yet, purchase one of his books off Amazon. Contact David L. Burton via email at dburton541@yahoo.