The National Conference on Citizenship, held Dec. 3 in Washington, DC, examined the role of citizenship in the post-9/11 world. The conference provided a forum to discuss the important role nonprofits play in encouraging citizenship. Read more for a summary of points made at the conference. The conference theme was highlighted by John DiIulio, Jr., former director of the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives, who moderated a panel discussion on nonprofits and citizenship in front of 500 educators and nonprofit leaders. “After working at Princeton as a professor for many years, I decided to take a sabbatical and work at a middle school in inner-city Philadelphia teaching government and ethics. For our class trip, we went to Washington, DC. We walked around all day, packed as much into the day as we could, and the last thing we visited was the Lincoln Memorial. 40 kids spilled out of the bus and ran up the step of the Memorial. When they reached the top, almost in unison, they started reading aloud the Gettysburg Address.” He paused. “With a one-in-three-lifetime chance of ending up in prison, from a place where 60 percent of the kids their age in their community are illiterate, what does citizenship mean to these lower income, impoverished children?” Nonprofits struggle with the concept of civic renewal and the rights of citizenship — how to get individuals involved in their local, state or federal government or community organizations. Most people are civically engaged in some way, but their forms of participation and interaction differ significantly. A small percentage are involved in many ways, but most people are more specialized or selective in their forms of engagement. Some focus almost exclusively on their church, while others thrive on political activity. Nonprofits make a difference when they are engaged. However, people still encounter significant barriers to participation. The challenge is how do nonprofits encourage individuals to make a difference in their communities. All forms of citizen interaction and participation contribute to a community’s strength — from joining an organization to donating to a charity to socializing informally. Nonprofits fill a role in civic engagement by bringing people together. Many nonprofits create social capital by creating places of common interest. Unfortunately, many nonprofits have become too specialized and removed from ordinary citizens, and tend to intimidate volunteers. One way nonprofits can attract participants is by providing service opportunities. Alan Khazei, founder of City Year, discovered that by challenging young people to serve their country, his organization has inspired them to take part in their own collective enterprises. The values these young people learn through City Year take hold, and as a result, they vote in higher numbers than any other voter group. Nonprofits also need to return charity to the citizens. Historically, charities have been viewed as voluntary and disorganized. The first foundations — Ford, Rockefeller, Sage — took public affairs out of the hands of the volunteers and put it in the hands of specialists. Recently, nonprofits’ common cause has been voter mobilization as a way to re-involve the citizen in politics. While this greatly encouraged record voter turnout last month, voting without other civic involvement allows the voter to select between two specialists without getting their hands dirty. The day after the election, they can simply return to their lives and let the experts rule. Nonprofits need to provide more ways for citizens to get involved at all levels in which they operate — local, state and federal. By providing service opportunities, individuals can come together and create a sense of civic engagement and collective enterprise and truly return the charity to the citizen.