HEADLINES: Birmingham area rich in faith-based connections
Community Foundation makes plans to use data as filter for future grantmaking Putnam comes to Birmingham April 26 for Nonprofit Summit

[Community Highlights] [Success Stories [1] [2] [3] [Press Release]

When it comes to the "glue" that holds society together, the concept called "social capital," the Birmingham area has more resources than many other communities because of the high number of residents who belong to a church or other religious institution.
That's just one of the conclusions drawn from data released today in The Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, conducted by The Saguaro Seminar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in partnership with a consortium of foundations that includes The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham.
According to an analysis by Mark LaGory, Ph.D., of UAB's Department of Sociology, who is analyzing the data for The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, responses from the sample of 478 households in Jefferson and Shelby counties revealed a community characterized by its religiosity. (N.B. When the sample pool was analyzed locally, it was shown that 22 respondents from the 500 interviewed for the Birmingham Metro sample actually did not live in the two counties chosen for the survey area.)
According to results analyzed by LaGory, 81 percent of the Birmingham Metro sample report that they belong to a religious institution, compared to 65 percent in a national survey of 3,000 households. In addition, only 5 percent of the Birmingham Metro sample describe religion as unimportant, compared to 15 percent nationally, and 45 percent contribute more than $500 to religious organizations compared to 34 percent in the national sample.

High in faith-based social capital, formal group involvement and "macher"

The survey also provided "community quotient" scores to compare a community's performance in relation to a result that might be expected based on the urbanicity, ethnicity, levels of education and age distribution within a sample area. Using that comparison, Jefferson and Shelby counties show what LaGory termed "unusually high" scores in faith-based social capital, formal group involvement and "macher," a term popularized by Harvard's Robert Putnam in his book "Bowling Alone" to describe a person's involvement in formal memberships and associations (in contrast to informal associations known as "schmoozing").
SEE BULLETED HIGHLIGHTS FOR ADDITIONAL DETAILS OF LAGORY'S ANALYSIS.

Distinctive among Southern communities

The Birmingham Metro sample also shows itself to be distinctive in comparison with the results of samples from seven other Southern communities. The results show a community that demonstrates higher levels of general social trust, formal group involvement (both secular and religious) and faith-based social capital, than the sample areas selected by community foundations in cities such as Atlanta, Ga., and Greensboro and Winston-Salem, N.C. (See bulleted highlights for complete list.)
The Birmingham area also has the lowest score within that group of Southern communities for diversity of friendships, indicating, LaGory said, "that these forms of social capital fail to bridge ethnic, racial and class boundaries. Such a pattern tends to reduce the ability of groups to use their social capital to resolve social inequities and get ahead."
In comparison with the national sample, the Birmingham area is less knowledgeable politically. For example, only 9 percent of those surveyed could name both Alabama senators, compared to 18 percent nationwide who could name their state's senators.
Jefferson and Shelby counties also showed lower than predicted community quotient scores on measures of political activism and racial trust.

Plans for local activities: Programming, Woodlawn survey, Putnam visit in April

What do these survey results mean for the Birmingham area and for The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, which sponsored the local survey? According to Carey Hinds, the foundation's Vice President for Program, social capital is being widely discussed as a resource and a tool to address problems in a community.
"Looking back over almost $60 million in grants that we have made in more than 40 years of service to this community, we can point to many programs and organizations that promote and encourage these kinds of bonds between neighbors and bridges across barriers," Hinds said. "We expect to use the Benchmark Survey data as another filter in assessing grants that meet community needs, today and tomorrow.
"The data offer an opportunity for local self-examination and a chance to consider strategies for developing and investing this unique form of capital in the community.
"Our hope is that the results of the survey will raise community awareness about the issue of social capital and the role it may play in the welfare of our citizens," Hinds added. "Part of our mission is to make our community a better place for all our citizens, not just by giving money to non-profit organizations but by serving as a catalyst for positive change - and the survey is one way we hope to do that."
The results also will be made available to the public and serve as a basis for comparison with future surveys of trends in social capital, including a survey now under way in the Woodlawn community of Birmingham.
As an immediate followup, The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham is joining with the Nonprofit Resource Center of Alabama to bring Robert Putnam to Birmingham. On Thursday, April 26, Putnam will meet with community leaders and provide his own analysis of national and local data as part of a presentation to the 2001 Nonprofit Summit. The theme for this year's event is "Building Community Together." Call 205-879-4712 for more information or go to www.nonprofit-al.org.
The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham is a permanent community endowment made up of more than 170 grantmaking funds that have been established by individuals, families, businesses and agencies. The goal of The Community Foundation is to serve the community by connecting caring people and key resources with community needs, focusing on areas such as the arts, education, environment, health, human services, public/society benefits and religion. Since 1959, The Community Foundation has given out some $60 million in grants to thousands of organizations, including $7.6 million to more than 400 organizations in 2000, and currently has assets totaling approximately $94 million.

More from Mark LaGory

"The idea that social participation and support can have positive consequences for communities and individuals is as old as the social sciences themselves," added LaGory. "Research has demonstrated its impact on issues ranging from individual level phenomena such as academic performance, child development, occupational attainment, health and juvenile delinquency to community capacity, neighborhood revitalization, and local quality of life.
"Putnam's work offers an opportunity to develop meaningful measures of community participation that can be used to assess a community's capacity for change," said LaGory. "Numbers have great power to communicate complex ideas and trends, and reliable data represent a trustworthy beginning for important and difficult public conversations.
"Good numbers, like good photographs or paintings, allow us to focus on an issue. They engage us in ways that articles or books about a subject cannot. They also serve as a baseline to evaluate change. This is what the Social Capital Benchmark Survey offers communities - the opportunity to unleash a powerful, yet invisible force for change by naming it and measuring it.
"By funding a local sample to go along with the national survey," LaGory added, "The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham and other Community Foundations throughout the country have provided a valuable commodity with the potential to promote and revitalize local communities. The data offers an opportunity for local self-examination, and a chance to consider strategies for developing and investing this unique form of capital in the community."
in 2000, and currently manages assets totaling approximately $94 million.

Hitting the highlights - LaGory reviews the survey data

The sample
· The Birmingham Metro sample consists of 478 households from Jefferson and Shelby counties (Analysis showed that 22 respondents from the original 500 reported in the sample did not actually live in these two counties).
· The response rate was 32 percent, with a refusal rate of 48 percent.
· The sample was representative of the racial and educational characteristics of Jefferson and Shelby, slightly over representing the Hispanic population (3 percent in sample v. <1 percent from US Census) and under representing the African American (29.4 percent v. 32 percent) and white (63 percent v. 66 percent) subpopulations.

Unique features
· The Birmingham metropolitan area that includes Jefferson and Shelby counties, from which this sample was taken, has a sizable African American population, so the sample consists of 2.5 times the percentage of blacks in the Social Capital sample of 30,000 people that includes both community and national survey respondents.
· The Birmingham Metro sample is characterized by its religiosity, with 81 percent of the sample reporting a membership in a church or other religious institution compared to 65 percent nationally. Only 5 percent of the Birmingham Metro sample describes religion as unimportant, compared to 15 percent nationally. In the local sample, 45 percent contribute more than $500 annually to religious organizations compared to 34 percent in the national sample.
· The Birmingham Metro sample is less knowledgeable politically than the national sample. Only 9 percent of the local sample could name both Alabama senators, compared to 18 percent nationally.
· When using the community quotient norms (scores to compare a community's performance in relation to a result that might be expected based on the urbanicity, ethnicity, levels of education and age distribution within a sample area) to assess social capital scores, the Birmingham Metro sample behaves as expected on aspects of social capital such as general trust, "schmoozing" (developing social connections through informal connections) and charity. The sample's scores are unusually high in faith-based social capital, "macher" (development of social connections through formal memberships and associations) and overall level of formal group involvement (both the "secular" score and the score including religious activity). The Birmingham Metro sample scores lower than the Community Quotient Norm on measures of diversity of friendships, political activism and racial trust.
· The Birmingham Metro sample is one of eight Southern communities where local surveys were conducted. (See website for more details on the areas surveyed.) These include: Atlanta Metro (including DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb, Rockdale and Henry counties); Baton Rouge, La. (including East Baton Rouge Parish); Charlotte, N.C., including 11 counties in North Carolina and three in South Carolina; East Tennessee, including 22 counties; Greensboro and Guildford County, N.C.; Winston-Salem/Forsyth County, N.C., and Kanawha Valley, W.V. (including three counties. Within this group, the Birmingham Metro sample has the highest scores on general social trust, formal group involvement and faith-based social capital. It has the lowest score for diversity of friendships, indicating that these forms of social capital fail to bridge ethnic, racial and class boundaries.

The social characteristics of social capital
· Overall, the education of the respondent is the best predictor of individual social capital in the Birmingham sample.
· Educational level is significantly related to social and racial trust, formal group participation (including and excluding church), civic participation, and diversity of friendships.
· Education is unrelated to faith-based social capital and schmoozing.
· Race is also linked to various aspects of social capital. For example, whites have higher levels of social and racial trust, more diverse friendships, and levels of schmoozing.
· Generally speaking, social capital measures do not vary significantly between those living in the city of Birmingham and other parts of Jefferson and Shelby counties. The only exception is in terms of civic participation, which is higher for respondents within the city limits of Birmingham.
· Women are more likely to volunteer and have higher levels of faith-based social capital.
· The youngest age category (18-34) ranked high as "schmoozers" (involving informal social interaction and connectedness), but otherwise generally exhibit lower social capital. They volunteer less often, have fewer formal group involvements, less civic participation, social trust, and faith-based social capital. The question is whether this age effect will continue to be true as the "generation" moves into a different time of life.

Social capital and well-being
Like the national comparison sample of 3,000 households, the Birmingham Metro sample shows strong links between social capital and personal well-being.
· Social trust and racial trust are very significant predictors of personal happiness, health and assessments of quality of life in the community.
· People who give generously (both to church and charities) are happier, healthier, feel people can be trusted and are more likely to describe the local quality of life as excellent or good.
· Formal group involvement has a positive relationship to happiness and assessment of quality of life.
· Persons with more diverse friendships are happier, healthier, feel people can be trusted and evaluate the local quality of life as good or excellent.
· Schmoozing has no connection with well-being indicators

The links between various types of social capital
As expected, Birmingham Metro residents with higher faith-based social capital and greater formal group involvements exhibit deeper engagement and commitment in other aspects of social capital, such as.
· Greater social and racial trust
· Greater monetary contributions
· Greater diversity of friends
· More volunteering
· Greater political activity