Americans’ trust in institutions and in each other is broken. This lack of trust needs to be addressed to build a stronger and healthier democracy. To this end, the Our Common Purpose report recommended a greater national investment in local civic efforts. These consist of gathering places like parks, libraries, schools, churches, and museums, spaces that bring people together and help form community bonds. Such places support interactions through which Americans can connect and develop a sense of common purpose.

The report called for private enterprises and philanthropic actors to come together to provide the seed funding necessary for the establishment of a national trust for civic life. To make this recommendation a reality, the Academy convened a follow-up working group in 2021 that provided the thought leadership and guidance needed to incubate the Trust. With the backing of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the MacArthur Foundation, Stand Together, and others, the Trust for Civic Life launched in 2024.  

The Trust is one of the few national grantmakers that directly supports locally-led community efforts that strengthen local civic life and democracy. The Trust focuses its funding in rural areas, places that are often overlooked by national philanthropies. Indeed, rural America only receives 7% of philanthropic spending. Rural communities have the leaders, ideas and skills to bring people together, yet often are unable to access the resources they need to scale and grow. The Trust has set up a new funding pipeline to support these on-the-ground efforts and get national dollars directly in the hands of the people who know their communities best.

Since 2024, the Trust has funded:

• Civic hubs: organizations that bring people together to create a shared vision and come up with solutions that benefit the entire community 

• Civic entrepreneurs: individuals or small organizations that are leading new programs to get their community members involved in solving local problems

This funding is supporting existing and new programs and gathering places that help community members to connect with one another and make their local civic life stronger.