About Resource
The Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) supports a network of philanthropic organizations to initiate progress in civic society through nonpartisan civic engagement investment. Published with this audience in mind, this technical paper explores the expanding nature of nonpartisan civic engagement in recent decades and characterizes its modern landscape using an eight-point Typology.
The strategic focii comprising the Typology include strategies, groups, and programs related to:
- People-Centered efforts (e.g., grassroots organizing)
- Policy and Issue Advocacy
- Communications
- Narrative and Culture Change
- Civic Technology and Digital Organizing
- Capacity Building and Technical Assistance
- Research, Experimentation, and Assessment
- Funders
How to Use
As it is prepared explicitly for funders, practitioners may find this resource most useful in collaboration with development and leadership teams to inform engagement strategies with funders/foundations. Consult the Typology to identify entry points for tying community science endeavors directly to funders’ civic engagement interests. The shifting landscape of civic engagement makes this evident: while older notions of philanthropic civic engagement were more narrowly focused on democratic reform (e.g., voting rights advocacy and changes to voter registration), the widening scope of civic engagement thinking allows funders to impact civic life via community science activities.
Activities like action research, guided community tours, and community organizing are civic engagement tactics. In “doing” community science, these activities may be pursued to conduct and leverage scientific research towards advancing a community priority. From a philanthropic view, their impact may be wider reaching: these same activities promote “intimate, vibrant social experiences” for community interaction. Activities like these can become social and political homes through which communities learn about themselves, make decisions together, and lay a path towards collective action.