Our mission

The Fund for Democratic Communities supports community-based initiatives and institutions that foster authentic democracy to make communities better places to live. F4DC makes grants, provides direct technical assistance, conducts research, and produces materials to facilitate this agenda.

Our history

The Fund was founded in 2007 by Marnie Thompson and Ed Whitfield, two longtime community activists in Greensboro, N.C., with a strong belief in the power of ordinary people in neighborhoods, workplaces and other communities to figure out and solve their own problems when given an opportunity to put their heads together and hear the diverse voices of all involved.

After committing decades of her life's work to this belief, Marnie further committed her inheritance to it, establishing this foundation with a bequest from the estate of her father, the late W. Hayden Thompson, who built his wealth through his gas-fired burner business and diverse investments.

The funding began arriving in late 2007, and the balance is to be turned over to the Fund over the next five years. By 2013, our financial assets are expected to total around $5 million. By the standards of conventional philanthropy, that makes us a "small foundation." We're eager to see what this "small" amount of money can do, when it is joined with the power of people working together in democratic communities.