What’s Community Building Worth?
A message from our Executive Director on Giving Tuesday.
As a community building nonprofit, we’re often asked a simple question with a complicated answer:
“How do you measure your impact?”
In a world of charts, dashboards, and tidy metrics, the work of strengthening relationships, building trust, and fostering belonging doesn’t always fit neatly into a spreadsheet.
How do you quantify the courage it takes for neighbors with different views to sit down together – and leave the room with a more open mind? How do you measure the ripple effects of a new friendship that you helped facilitate? Or the quiet relief someone feels when they realize, “I’m not alone in this community?”
This is the sort of impact that rarely shows up as a data point…but it’s at the heart of C4C’s work. We believe that the health of a community is intimately tied to the quality – not quantity – of relationships between those who live, work, and play in it.
For us, “impact” starts with building a solid foundation of social connection, and then creating pathways for residents to engage more deeply in community life. It means trusting that the relationships and initiatives we nurture will lead to good things, without always knowing exactly what those good things are.
Sometimes, impact looks like a simple introduction. Like when we connected Stef and Kimberly over a shared dream of opening a local pottery studio. Less than six months later, they’re about to open the doors to Sisters Clay Collective! (You can come check out their new space at our February Community Builders meeting.)
Sometimes, impact looks like public service. Like how 10 of our Sisters Civic Leadership Academy graduates have already taken on new roles on City Council, city advisory committees, nonprofit boards, and other local leadership positions.
And sometimes, impact looks like roller skating. Like when we hosted a skate night for Sisters High School students, and “got kids to show up who never come out for school events.”
These kinds of moments weave together into something powerful – a community that can weather challenges, overcome divides, celebrate victories, and help everyone feel that there’s a place for them in Sisters Country. (We’ve captured many of these special moments and stories in our recently released 2024-25 Impact Report.)
That’s why, on this Giving Tuesday, I’m asking for your support.
Your donation helps us create the events, programs, and places that bring people together. It fuels the behind-the-scenes relational work that doesn’t always make headlines, but absolutely makes a difference here in Sisters Country.
If you believe in the importance of building a more vibrant, resilient Sisters Country – one where everyone thrives and feels they belong – I invite you to give to C4C today. Every contribution, big or small, helps us forge the “connective tissue” at the heart of all healthy communities.
Thank you for your support, and for being part of this amazing community.
Kellen Klein
Executive Director
Citizens4Community