Why is this work important?
Faith and civic life are inextricably linked. They always have been. While the First Amendment guarantees freedom of (and from) religion, faith and spiritual values helped inspire our founders’ ideas, our laws, norms, and expectations of citizenship. Faith-inspired institutions provide education, social services, philanthropy, housing, volunteerism, and disaster relief– among other public goods and societal benefits. Even as formal religious attendance and affiliation have decreased in the United States over recent decades, the positive impact of faith on America’s social infrastructure, politics, and public engagement remains profound. We also acknowledge great harm has been done in the name of religion. These harms and tensions often deter philanthropies from investing in faith communities and organizations. We believe that is short-sighted and risks further marginalizing and minimizing the importance of faith in individuals’ lives and across society.
From 2019-23, Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) examined the landscape of faith, democracy, and philanthropy through the Faith In/And Democracy initiative (FIAD). The goal was to inspire more interest and investment at the intersection of faith and democracy, and its results were impressive. From a funding perspective, over $1 million dollars was mobilized to more than 30 faith-inspired organizations. From a learning perspective, a learning community of practitioners, academics, funders, analysts, and others in the field emerged to lead on this conversation within philanthropy.
PACE offers our experience–and evidence of faith’s positive impact on democracy–as advocates for deeper philanthropic investment at the intersection of faith and democracy. We believe that the social good generated because of and within faith organizations is not only critical to combat polarization and oppression, but also vital to strengthen our social safety net and nurture an engaged, empowered citizenry. The consequential story of faith’s positive impact on American civic life is under-recognized and undervalued by philanthropy. Our aim is to shift that.