Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE), a national network of funders supporting civic engagement, opens a new three-part series arguing that philanthropy across every sector, not just dedicated democracy funders, has a role to play in strengthening civic life. Written by Shannon Green, the piece contends that trust, belonging, and community participation are not a niche issue area but the foundation that makes progress possible on any cause a funder cares about, from health to education to housing. It points to health, humanities, and youth development funders already investing in connection and civic participation as evidence that this shift is already underway, and previews a forthcoming PACE guide distilling shared practices for grantmakers new to civic philanthropy. The series' central claim, that every funder can be a civic funder regardless of their primary mission, speaks directly to NCDD's mission of expanding who sees themselves as invested in the health of dialogue, deliberation, and democratic life.

The Council on Foundations has launched the Community Foundations Working Across Differences Accelerator, a new grant opportunity designed to help U.S. community foundations deepen their capacity to bring people together across social and political divides. The program pairs direct funding, including a $20,000 planning grant and up to $45,000 in follow-on support, with expert coaching and a structured peer learning agenda, giving foundations both the resources and the skills to design local strategies for working across differences. Selected organizations commit staff time to a bimonthly peer learning circle and at least one additional capacity-building program, such as the Council's Bridging Differences Leadership Cohort. Applications are due September 4, 2026, and are open to U.S. community foundations, with preference given to Council members and organizations planning for long-term engagement. The accelerator reflects a growing recognition among funders that bridging divides requires sustained investment, positioning it as a valuable resource for NCDD's network of practitioners and philanthropic partners.

​The Council on Foundations has launched the Community Foundations Working Across Differences Accelerator, a new grant program supporting community foundations that want to build local capacity for bridging divides in their communities. The Accelerator combines direct funding, expert coaching, and peer learning to help selected foundations design and implement strategies for working across differences, treating that work as a core function of civic leadership rather than a side initiative. Eligible U.S. community foundations can apply for a $20,000 planning grant, with the possibility of $45,000 in follow-on implementation funding, by submitting an online application before the September 4, 2026 deadline. This opportunity gives NCDD's network of practitioners and funders a concrete example of philanthropy investing directly in dialogue and bridge-building infrastructure at the community level.

The Trust for Civic Life, a national grantmaking collaborative supporting community-led civic renewal, has named 20 local organizations as its 2026 Civic Hub grantees, part of a $7.6 million investment in rural, place-based civic infrastructure. The selected groups span regions including the Black Belt, Central Appalachia, the Southwest Border, Tribal Lands, and communities in economic transition, and they range from community foundations to grassroots networks rooted in the places they serve. The Trust frames its work around helping Americans connect, solve problems together, and feel confident in a shared future, a purpose that overlaps closely with the conditions dialogue and deliberation practitioners work to create. For the NCDD network, the announcement is less a funding notice than a signal about where civic infrastructure is being built and who is building it in rural America. It points toward a growing set of local hubs that could become venues and partners for dialogue, deliberation, and collaborative community work.

The George Gund Foundation, a Cleveland-based philanthropy, used its June 2026 grants announcement to articulate an explicit commitment to nonpartisan democracy-building grantmaking, awarding funding to organizations such as the Fair Elections Center and the Ohio Mayors Alliance Foundation under a dedicated Democracy Building program area. The foundation frames this work around centering historically marginalized voices, providing multi-year operating support rather than one-time grants, and encouraging collaboration among grantees committed to democratic participation. This approach offers a practical model for how funders can support the infrastructure behind civic engagement and dialogue work, rather than only its programming. Organizations seeking funding for democracy-strengthening work can apply year-round for grants up to $100,000, with the next deadline for larger requests set for July 15, 2026. The foundation's framing connects directly to NCDD's mission by treating democracy not as a fixed condition but as an ongoing collective practice requiring sustained investment.

The Trust for Civic Life has launched Digital Civic Experiments, a pilot grantmaking portfolio supporting eight organizations that use digital tools to strengthen community connection, increase civic participation, and drive meaningful offline engagement among underserved and place-based communities nationwide. Grantees range from Entidad, which builds documentation tools for farmworkers, to Front Porch Forum, a Vermont-wide neighborhood network that consistently moves online interactions into real-world civic life, to the Relational Tech Project, which builds hyper-local tools collaboratively with and for approximately one hundred neighbors at a time. Informed by the Trust's own community research, the portfolio reflects a community-first philosophy that treats trust, local design, and offline impact as core criteria for what makes digital civic technology worth funding. For NCDD members navigating the intersection of technology and civic engagement, this portfolio offers both inspiration and a useful framework for distinguishing digital tools that genuinely serve dialogue and deliberation from those that merely replicate its surface features.

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation warns that civil society is under growing threat worldwide, with shrinking funding and rising restrictions, intimidation, and retaliation against leaders. As core freedoms decline in 60 countries—including increasing limits on protest and politicized free speech in the U.S.—these trends jeopardize the ability of advocates and organizations to serve communities. The Foundation argues that philanthropy must invest in strengthening civic infrastructure, protecting the sector, and supporting movements, emphasizing that democracy depends on people’s ability to organize and act peacefully. Read more in the blog post below.

Survey data from Democracy Fund and PACE shows near-universal pessimism among democracy funders—almost all see U.S. democracy as threatened and 88% say it is “broken”—yet 75% still plan to maintain or increase giving in 2026. Funders are skeptical of their own effectiveness, citing weak strategies rather than poor coordination. Funding is shifting toward defensive priorities such as election protection, civil-society safeguards, and counter-authoritarian work, with less support for grassroots organizing. While two-thirds are open to collaboration, barriers include institutional misalignment, strategic rigidity, and limited collaboration skills. Experts urge grant-seekers to show strong analysis, tap regional and family foundations, and use bridge-building language—guidance directly relevant to NCDD practitioners navigating the current funder landscape. 

​The David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s report, “AI and Democracy: Perspectives from an Emerging Field,” synthesizes insights from various stakeholders on how AI disrupts democratic institutions, elections, government, information ecosystems, civic participation, labor markets, and the economy. It positions AI as an accelerant that amplifies strengths and weaknesses across existing systems, with democratic futures dependent on rapid adaptation to ensure technological change doesn’t outpace democratic governance. The report includes an appendix mapping over 130 organizations working at the intersection of AI and democracy, offering systems-level analysis and a focus on how funders must respond to AI’s democratic implications. This work advances NCDD’s mission by providing a framework for understanding how AI shapes conditions for democratic participation, civic engagement, and institutional trust, emphasizing the importance of collective capacity to respond to accelerated change through coordinated action addressing election integrity, information ecosystem health, algorithmic accountability, and democratic adaptation across multiple domains.

Democracy Notes will release its 2025 Trends report on January 15, 2026, offering a comprehensive overview of developments in the U.S. democracy space over the past year, sponsored by the Democracy Funders Network and Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement to help practitioners, funders, and advocates understand emerging patterns, significant developments, and key shifts in democratic institutions and civic participation. Democracy Notes serves a crucial infrastructure role through its newsletter, communities of practice, and convening events, which create spaces for practitioners to identify broader patterns and connections across the field. These events analyze developments, ranging from dialogue and deliberation initiatives to voter engagement, civic education, and advocacy campaigns. For NCDD practitioners, this report provides valuable context for understanding how dialogue and deliberation fit within the broader ecosystem of democracy strengthening, supports strategic decision-making, helps identify potential partners and complementary efforts, and enables the field to collectively assess what's working and where opportunities for collaboration and innovation exist.