Community Foundations for Civic Health (CFCH) – an initiative of CFLeads, the Rhode Island Foundation, the National Civic League, and other partners – will enable all community foundations to confidently strengthen civic health, achieving local impacts at a national scale.
The initiative will help community foundations leverage community leadership to coordinate local efforts, build their own plans for civic health improvement, access resources to carry out this important work, and learn from one another.
What is civic health and why does it matter?
Civic health refers to the strength of relationships among individuals, between people and institutions, and between residents and the places they live. Strong, ongoing connections between residents, robust relationships between people and public institutions, and positive attachments between community members and the places they live are highly correlated with a range of positive outcomes, from better physical health to higher employment rates to better resilience in the face of natural disasters.
Civic health encompasses civic education, local journalism, volunteerism, bridge-building, participation in government, and many other activities that engender agency and trust among individuals and institutions.
Civic health is based on the civic readiness of individuals – the knowledge, beliefs, skills, and connections that people need to contribute to their communities and build common ground. Civic health also relies on residents having access to a range of civic opportunities – all the spaces and infrastructure supported by community foundations, governments, school systems, and other institutions. These opportunities allow people to learn, apply, and improve their civic readiness.
When these supports are weak, people of different backgrounds and political perspectives are less likely to communicate or work together, which exacerbates partisan polarization. When these supports are distributed inequitably, they deepen economic and social inequities.
Civic Health Wheel
Upcoming Opportunities
Community Foundations for Civic Health Planning Grants
📆 Apply by November 19, 2026
CFCH Planning Grants support community foundations seeking to establish or deepen their civic health work. Grants can be used to pay for costs associated with a range of efforts, such as local community engagement, field scans, asset mapping, professional development, and training that promotes board alignment. The purpose of this grant program is to help foundations advance on the Community Foundations Civic Health Continuum, transitioning from a state of emerging interest to one in which they are more prepared to implement actionable, community-anchored civic health strategies.
Community Foundations for Civic Health Virtual Learning Series
📍 Virtual | 📆 August 2026 – March 2027
Continue exploring the practices and principles that strengthen civic health through our ongoing virtual learning series. These sessions provide opportunities to hear from practitioners, explore emerging trends, and learn alongside peers committed to advancing civic engagement, trust, and community well-being.
Whether you’re new to civic health or building on existing work, these interactive sessions offer valuable tools and insights you can apply locally.
Registration for this series has closed, and the series is now at full capacity. We’re excited to offer another Virtual Learning Series in Spring 2027. If you’re interested in participating, please submit this interest form to be among the first to receive updates and registration information when the new series is announced.
Our Work So Far
2025 was a year of learning for Community Foundations for Civic Health. We convened virtual sessions that attracted more than 100 community foundations and held an in-person summit in Chicago that was attended by more than 70 community foundation leaders. In all, we engaged 168 community foundations represented by 235 Chief Executive Officers and other leadership team members, which represents the involvement of foundations from 45 of the 50 U.S. States and more than 15% of all U.S. Community Foundations. This robust participation underscores unprecedented enthusiasm for civic health initiatives. The depth of engagement and practical ideas generated demonstrate that there isn’t just philosophical interest; there is excitement and readiness to learn and act.
Through our 2025 engagements, community foundations identified key barriers: limited unrestricted funding, the need for skill-building and network development, the difficulty of navigating language in polarized times, and impact measurement challenges.
Support this work
We invite fellow philanthropic organizations, funders, and partners across sectors to join us. By working together to strengthen civic health, we can ensure that our communities are not only more resilient but also more equitable, inclusive, and capable of meeting the challenges of the 21st century. To learn more about supporting this work, please contact Sarah Aguirre Origer, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Innovation, at soriger@cfleads.org.
Civic Health Report
Resources
Civic Health Grants
Community Foundations for Civic Health (CFCH) has a multipronged approach to supporting community foundations at every stage of their civic health work.