From Dialogue to Action: New Grants Support Civic Conversations Across America

The National Issues Forums Institute has launched the "What's Next, America?" Community Grant Fund, a $250,000 investment to help communities, campuses, and K-12 classrooms host nonpartisan conversations, identify shared priorities, and turn them into local civic action during the nation's 250th anniversary year. The fund offers two tracks: Spark Grants of $1,000 to help communities organize and begin hosting conversations, with applications opening August 2, 2026, and Civic Action Grants of $2,500 to $5,000 to support the nonpartisan projects that emerge from those discussions, opening September 17, 2026. Grounded in the National Issues Forums tradition of deliberative public discussion, the fund is built to move communities from talking together toward acting together, with past efforts producing projects such as a youth city council and a community arts festival. Eligibility is deliberately broad, extending to groups without 501(c)(3) status through fiscal sponsors, with support offered to any applicant who needs help finding one. For the NCDD network, this is both a practical funding channel and a well-aligned vehicle for the deliberation-to-action work at the heart of the field.

---

---

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the National Issues Forums Institute is inviting communities to ask what comes next, and it is putting $250,000 behind that question. The "What's Next, America?" Community Grant Fund supports communities, campuses, and K-12 classrooms in organizing local conversations, surfacing shared priorities, and moving from discussion into nonpartisan civic action. NIFI has long anchored the deliberative tradition in American public life, and this fund extends that work into a milestone civic moment, framing the anniversary not as a backward-looking commemoration but as an occasion to build what the Institute calls the civic muscle needed for the next 250 years. The structure reflects a sequence dialogue and deliberation practitioners will recognize: first help people talk together well, then help them act on what they find. This is a time-sensitive opportunity, and communities interested in participating should note that the two application windows open within weeks of each other in late summer and fall of 2026.

​The fund is built in two stages that mirror the arc from conversation to action. Spark Grants of $1,000 help communities get ready, supporting the organizing and preparation needed to begin hosting "What's Next, America?" conversations; applications open August 2, 2026, with awards made on a rolling basis through December. Civic Action Grants of $2,500 to $5,000 come next, supporting the local, nonpartisan projects that grow out of those discussions, and are intended for communities that have completed the discussion portion and hosted or are preparing to host an action summit; applications open September 17, 2026, on Constitution Day, with roughly $100,000 awarded before the end of 2026 and another $100,000 between January and June 2027. A civic action, in the fund's terms, is something people do together to address a shared community concern, and it must be collaborative, nonpartisan, tied to a genuine community need, and aimed at the broader public rather than any individual. Eligibility is intentionally wide. Community groups, campuses, and schools may apply, and organizations without 501(c)(3) status can participate through a fiscal sponsor, with NIFI explicitly offering to help applicants who struggle to find one so that status does not become a barrier. All funded activity must be strictly nonpartisan and consistent with the Institute's charitable and educational purposes.

For the NCDD network, this fund is unusually well matched to the field's core practice. It resources the full deliberative sequence, from convening inclusive local conversations to translating shared understanding into collective action, which reflects NCDD's commitments to dialogue, civic engagement, and collaborative community work. The emphasis on nonpartisan, community-designed responses, and the concrete examples of past outcomes such as a junior city council and a Narcotics Anonymous chapter in a community facing addiction, show a model that values locally grounded action over prescribed solutions. Practitioners who convene public conversations, work with campuses or classrooms, or support communities ready to move from talk to action have a direct reason to engage, whether by applying themselves or by connecting local partners to the opportunity. Spark Grant applications open August 2 and Civic Action Grant applications open September 17, 2026, and interested communities can review the details and begin an application at https://whatsnextamerica.com/whats-next-america-community-grant-fund/. Given the rolling review while funds remain available, communities that are ready should not wait to apply.