About Soul of the Community

Soul of the Community (SOTC) is a three-year study conducted by Gallup of the 26 John S. and James L. Knight Foundation communities across the United States employing a fresh approach to determine the drivers of emotional community-citizen engagement and its role in community economic growth and well-being. The study focuses on the emotional side of the connection between residents and their communities.

In its first year, the study compared residents’ engagement level to the GDP growth in the 26 communities over the past five years. The findings show a significant correlation between community-citizen engagement and the economic growth. Over the coming years, the researchers will analyze the trends of both community-citizen engagement and economic growth and definitively show whether community engagement drives economic growth or the other way around. Within a smaller microcosm, such as a company, Gallup has been able to show that increasing employee engagement will indeed lead to improved financial performance.

The results of the SOTC study identify new approaches to help create transformation and new possibilities for continued progress in Knight communities. The study provides community leaders with an evaluation of what community characteristics emotionally connect residents to their community.

Community leaders can use the study’s findings to maximize community strengths and address community challenge areas to improve community-citizen engagement and increase economic growth in the community. The relationship of community citizen engagement to economic development has particular relevance beyond the current economic crisis as the study's findings can help leaders make long-term and strategic choices about investing in areas that have the greatest impact on engaging the community.

Gallup interviewed a random, representative sample of adults (age 18+) in the 26 Knight communities – nearly 14,000 people in total. The surveys were conducted in English and Spanish. Data were weighted to reflect the known adult population by age, gender, race and ethnicity based on U.S. Census data.

SOTC identified 10 domains that were found to have varying levels of impact in driving community-citizen engagement.

  • Basic services – infrastructure supports (highways, housing and healthcare)
  • Economy
  • Safety
  • Leadership and elected officials
  • Aesthetics – physical beauty and green spaces
  • Education
  • Social offerings - opportunities for social interaction and citizen caring
  • Openness/welcomeness – how welcoming the community is to different people
  • Civic involvement - residents’ commitment to their community through voting or voluntarism
  • Social capital – social networks between residents

Social offerings is the most important driver of community-citizen engagement overall. Aesthetics and openness/welcomeness to others also have major influence on community-citizen engagement.

Gallup and Knight Foundation will conduct the second wave of the survey in spring of 2009. The additional data will help show the impact of the economic crisis on emotional community-citizen engagement.