As official celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence culminate on July 4, a well-funded, privately funded initiative will begin trying to connect hundreds of millions of Americans with efforts to solve local problems.
The “Be The People” campaign aspires to change the perception that the US is hopelessly divided and that individuals have little power to overcome issues such as poverty, addiction, violence and blocked economic mobility. It also wants to move people to take action to solve these problems.
Brian Hooks, president and CEO of the nonprofit network Stand Together, said the 250th anniversary is a unique moment “to show people that they matter, that they have a role to play and that the future is unwritten, but it depends on each of us doing our part.”
Funded by a combination of 50 philanthropic foundations and individual donors, Be The People is based on research that indicates that many people want to contribute to their communities, but don’t know how. The initiative raised more than $200 million for its first year’s budget.
Founding members range from nonprofits—including GivingTuesday, Goodwill Industries, and Habitat for Humanity, to businesses like Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment and the National Basketball Association—to funders like the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Hooks said this is a 10-year commitment in trying to achieve what would be a profound change in behavior and culture. He referenced a 2024 Pew Research Center poll that found a majority of Americans in 2023 and 2024 didn’t think the U.S. could solve its biggest problems, saying it was a “red alert” for the country.
Hooks said the initiative goes beyond volunteering or service that people might do in their spare time. He emphasized a role for businesses and schools and said the initiative will launch a major data collection effort to track whether people are actually more engaged and whether problems are actually being solved.
Stand Together, which was founded by billionaire Charles Koch, works on a wide range of issues and communities across the US and has carved out a role as a convener that can bring together coalitions across ideological lines.
“Be The People” will not be incorporated as a new nonprofit, but rather will act as a banner for groups to organize and use to connect to resources. For example, at Monday’s Atlanta Hawks game, Martin Luther King III and his wife, Arndrea Waters King, tied the new campaign to a program they launched last year, Realize the Dream, which aims to increase service records.
“Our vision is that ‘Be The People’ helps improve what’s already happening in communities across the country and reminds people that service and shared responsibility are defining parts of the American story,” the Kings said in a written statement.
“Be The People,” will operate similarly to the nonprofit organization GivingTuesday. Although it started as a hashtag to encourage people to donate to nonprofits on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, GivingTuesday has grown into a platform that provides nonprofits with tools such as fundraising kits and tips on how to reach and mobilize supporters. Nonprofits can participate however they want, but they gain some momentum by acting alongside many other groups.
“Our experience with GivingTuesday is that when people volunteer together, when people work together on something that has positive social impact, it becomes harder and harder for them to demonize each other,” said Asha Curran, its CEO.
The initiative comes against a backdrop of deep polarization, economic inequality, and the erosion of democratic norms and institutions in the US.
A growing number of private foundations have begun to fund issues related to the health of American democracy, said Kristin Goss, a professor who directs the Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Volunteerism at Duke University. While foundations can’t participate in elections, Goss said they can influence policy or public opinion in other ways.
“Funders are increasingly concerned about the health of American democracy, the future of the democratic experiment, and pluralism and inclusion,” Goss said.
Another group of funders, including the Freedom Together Foundation, launched a project last year to recognize people and groups who support their communities, which they called a “civic courage” award. In a November report, they made a similar call for funders to invest in helping individuals organize together in response to a rise in authoritarianism.
Hooks and the other Be The People leaders have also assembled important communications teams to help tell these stories, which I believe are lost in today’s information ecosystem.
“What we’re doing is we’re helping to elevate the American story that’s happening locally, but it’s not trying,” Hooks said. “So we’re giving Americans a mirror and a microphone to reveal to each other who we really are.”
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