We believe faith can ease divisions that plague our political processes and social fabric.
In 2019, PACE launched Faith In/And Democracy (FIAD), a funding and learning initiative to explore the ways faith and faith communities support democracy and civic life. With contributions from seven grantmakers totaling over $1 million, FIAD was initially a three-year pooled fund that awarded 31 grants to organizations working at the intersection of faith and democracy.
Each year of the initiative, PACE ran a cohort-based, year-long peer Learning Community for those engaged with the initiative. This Learning Community was a “laboratory” to test key questions about learning and impact and reflect those learnings to funders, nonprofits, and other fields.
Though the formal activities of FIAD have come to a close, we hope our learnings from the project will continue to inspire funders and other civic leaders to harness the power and potential of faith as both a force for problem-solving and strengthening democracy.
See the Funding Guide
This guide is meant for funders who are:
• Focused on democracy and civic life and want to increase their impact by engaging faith communities.
• Already investing in faith-inspired organizations but who are seeking a deeper understanding of the unique role those organizations play in the health of democracy and civic life.
• Anyone else who cares about the intersection of faith, democracy, civic engagement, and public life.
Faith and democracy are inextricably linked. See our evidence.
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, disaster relief, and more. 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.
Learn more about fiad
Faith communities have long contributed to American democracy and civic life. They have served as custodians of democratic values and builders of much of the civic infrastructure that supports our democracy today.
Why are some so hesitant to integrate faith communities into their efforts to strengthen democracy?
In this episode of Keeping PACE, Kristen presents PACE’s new Funding Guide for Faith and Democracy, shares why she is personally excited about the project, and why she thinks the project was a worthy pursuit.
Interested in Funding at the intersection of faith and democracy?
From 2019-2022, PACE facilitated a pooled fund which granted over $1 million to more than 30 faith-inspired organizations.
We also organized a learning community of 35 practitioners, academics, funders, and analysts who gathered regularly to consolidate knowledge regarding best practices for successful work and funding at this intersection.
Our hope is to amplify the good and necessary work happening at the faith-democracy nexus to generate increased interest, attention, and resources from philanthropy. We would love to connect and tell you how to get involved.
FIAD Support Lead