The National Conference on Citizenship (NCoC) is a civic engagement organization founded in 1946 and chartered by the U.S. Congress in 1953. ¹

The National Conference on Citizenship partners with several non-profit organizations via its Civil Health Index program. NCoC partners include the Center for Civic Education, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and California Forward. ²

The organization’s revenue mostly comes from contributions, gifts, and grants. Organizations that have committed grants to the National Conference on Citizenship include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Ford Foundation. ^{3 4 5}

Background

The National Conference on Citizenship is a civic engagement organization founded in 1946 and chartered by Congress in 1953. Congress also named NCoC in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act in 2009, which reauthorized the Corporation for National and Community Service, an independent agency of the federal government that makes grants to support volunteering and engages in a number of government-sponsored community service programs. NCoC’s Civic Health Initiative, in partnership with the Corporation for National and Community Service, expanded due to the legislation. ^{1 6}

The Civic Health Initiative, NCoC’s main program, documents “the state of civic life” via its city, state, and national reports. The organization also holds the Annual Conference on Citizenship, hosted close to Citizenship Day, which brings together leaders in the field of civic engagement. ¹

Partner Organizations

The National Conference on Citizenship partners with several non-profit organizations via its Civil Health Index program. NCoC partners include the Center for Civic Education, a nonprofit educational institution that promotes civics education, democratic principles, tolerance, civil discourse, and education on the Constitution and Bill of Rights; the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a left-leaning private foundation that sets a primary emphasis on funding media-related projects; the National Constitution Center, a private museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which is dedicated to the history of the United States Constitution; California Forward, a think tank and policy advocacy group that supports left-of-center policy goals, including government-subsidized housing, increased economic benefits for ethnic minorities, and campaign finance regulation; and the Miami Foundation, a community grantmaking foundation located in Miami, Florida, that offers donors the opportunity to create a donor-advised fund within the foundation for donors to direct their funds to recipient organizations. ^{2 7 8 9}

People

Cameron Hickey is the chief executive officer and project director for algorithmic transparency at the National Conference on Citizenship. Hickey is a former research fellow at the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School, where he assisted in leading the Shorenstein Center’s Information Disorder Lab which “monitored disinformation during the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.” ¹⁰

Hickey was a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation prototype grantee due to his news monitoring tool, NewsTracker. He also won a Brown Institute Magic Grant in 2019 to “investigate inauthentic activity on social media.” ¹⁰

Financials

The National Conference on Citizenship reported revenue of just under $7.9 million in 2022, around $5.6 million of which came from contributions, gifts, and grants. $1.1 million of its revenue came from program services, and it received just under $1 million from royalties. NCoC’s reported net assets of just over $5 million. ¹¹

The organization reported expenses of just under $6 million in 2022, around $2 million of which was spent on salaries and wages, while just under $1 million was spent on executive compensation. The officer who received the most executive compensation was Elijah Pariser, a program director, who received $250,600 in compensation, and $42,296 which is listed under “other.” ¹¹

Funding

The National Conference on Citizenship receives most of its revenue from contributions, gifts, and grants. It has received grants from several left-of-center private grantmaking foundations. ¹¹

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, formed in 2000 by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his then-wife, Melinda, granted NCoC a total of $1,864,810 through three grants between 2007 and 2020. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, created in 1940 as the charity for the five sons of John D. Rockefeller, Jr., granted NCoC a total of $700,000 in five grants between 2019 and 2023. The Ford Foundation granted NCoC a total of $885,000 across five grants between 2020 and 2022. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a foundation created by David Packard, cofounder of Hewlett-Packard, granted NCoC $600,000 in 2023. The Siegel Family Endowment, a left-of-center grantmaking foundation that was founded in 2011 by technology entrepreneur David M. Siegel, granted NCoC $350,000 in 2021. The Carnegie Corporation of New York, founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1911, granted NCoC a total of $100,000 in two grants in 2006 and 2014. ^{12 4 5 13 14 15}

1. “About Us.” National Conference on Citizenship. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://ncoc.org/about/.
2. “CIVIC HEALTH INITIATIVE SUMMARY OF PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY.” National Conference on Citizenship. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://ncoc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CHI_PartnershipOpp2023.pdf.
3. “Committed Grants.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=national%20conference%20on%20citizenship.
4. “National Conference on Citizenship – Grants.” Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.rbf.org/grantees/national-conference-citizenship.
5. “Grants Database.” Ford Foundation. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?search=national+conference+on+citizenship.
6. “The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act Summary.” AmeriCorps. April 21, 2009. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://americorps.gov/sites/default/files/document/Summary_Edward_M_Kennedy_Serve_America_Act.pdf.
7. “State Programs.” Civiced.Org. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://civiced.org/we-the-people/state-programs.
8. “Frequently Asked Questions About We the People.” Civiced.Org. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://civiced.org/we-the-people/faq.
9. “About the National Constitution Center.” National Constitution Center. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://constitutioncenter.org/about.
10. “Cameron Hickey.” National Conference on Citizenship. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://ncoc.org/staff/cameron-hickey/.
11. “National Conference On Citizenship – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/520698385.
12. “Committed Grants.” Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/committed-grants?q=national%20conference%20on%20citizenship.
13. “National Conference on Citizenship • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation.” Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.packard.org/grantee/national-conference-on-citizenship/.
14. “Grantees.” Siegel Family Endowment. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.siegelendowment.org/grantees/.
15. “National Conference on Citizenship.” Carnegie Corporation of New York. Accessed May 21, 2024. https://www.carnegie.org/grants/grants-database/grantee/national-conference-on-citizenship/.