Community foundations are uniquely positioned to strengthen civic health, trusted by governments, nonprofits, businesses, and residents alike, they understand local dynamics, convene diverse stakeholders, and are built to serve communities for the long haul. "Community Foundations for Civic Health" is a new collaboration between the League, CFLeads, and the Rhode Island Foundation, supported by an initial investment from the Mott Foundation, that provides tools for engagement, peer learning opportunities, technical assistance, matching grants, measurement and evaluation, and storytelling and amplification. In a new report, I reflect on the initiative's first year, spanning 168 community foundations across 45 states. Read more.

Matt Leighninger

Vice President

National Civic League

Voter Turnout Awareness Campaign

Get To Know Your

2026 AAC Finalists

New Look

National Civic Review

In pursuit of its motto, “Where civic minds fashion the future, ” The Gahanna Foundation developed “Democracy Challenge,” a novel five-year pilot public awareness campaign designed to boost registered voters and election participation across 15 cities in Franklin County. Ohio. “Democracy Challenge” debuted in central Ohio, but the model can be adopted anywhere in the USA (city, county, state) in a blink. Read more about the challenge and visit the foundation's website for action steps. 

From creating belonging in unexpected places to championing resident-led governance, the programs from this year's AAC finalists go above and beyond to foster civic health. These 20 communities exemplify a commitment to civic engagement, collaboration, and innovation. Their applications will be brought to life in the form of exciting 10-minute presentations during June's All-America City Award in Denver. Learn about each of the community's programs and explore the agenda.

The spring issue of the National Civic Review arrives with a fresh look, featuring two new columnists and quarterly updates from the curators of the Civic Tech Field Guide and the Democracy Notes substack. Articles and essays explore the institutions, practices, and communities holding democracy together in an environment of declining trust, civic disengagement, and technological change. Together, these contributors illuminate what genuine participation looks like today.
Read here.

Participatory Budgeting: What the Evidence Shows

Snohomish County Civic Assembly on AI

Oakland Democracy Dollars at Work

Participatory budgeting (PB) has moved from a niche democracy innovation to a mainstream governance tool, now used in thousands of cities worldwide. A recent study examining participatory budgeting initiatives provides one of the most comprehensive empirical assessments to date of how citizen involvement in budgeting affects transparency, accountability, fiscal responsibility, and public trust. The study finds an exceptionally strong relationship between citizen participation and improvements in transparency. Read more.

How should your local government use AI? On the weekend of May 2nd, 40 residents of Snohomish County, WA, began working to answer that question with the help of Civic Genius and a team of experts. Snohomish County will become the largest place in the U.S. to host a civic assembly. The assembly will bring together a randomly selected, representative group of people over three full weekends to learn and develop recommendations to guide how the county council approaches AI in county services. Read more.

When Oakland voters approved Democracy Dollars in 2022, they created California's first public campaign financing program and set up a major community engagement challenge: How do you help residents understand and use an entirely new civic tool, especially in communities historically excluded from political power? Local Policy Lab partnered with Oakland's Public Ethics Commission to develop a comprehensive engagement strategy drawing on national research and best practices.
Read more.