[Community Highlights] [Survey Highlights (PDF 202K)] [Press Release]

NEWS RELEASE

For more information
Contact Sara Collins (704) 376-9541

March 1, 2001 - The Charlotte region received mixed scores in the most comprehensive national survey of "social capital" ever conducted. Social capital is the formal and informal connections that link people in a community. Communities that are high in social capital generally have better schools, stronger economic development, lower crime and more physically healthy citizens.
Highlights of the Charlotte region's survey results, gathered from 1,500 respondents in 14 counties, include:
· The Charlotte region is more generous with our time and money than the rest of the country. On a "Communities Like Mine" (CLM) index, which measures similar communities, the region scored 125. A score of 100 is what is expected compared to the CLM indicator. One of the ways we express our concern for others is through volunteering and charity. The Charlotte region ranked among the highest in the country on this index.
· We are higher in faith-based social engagement. A CLM score of 121 indicates that more citizens of the region attend religious services, and do so more frequently, than the rest of the country. The score was fairly typical of other Southern communities.
· The Charlotte region is more civically engaged in formal associations. The CLM index gives this area a score of 114. Residents are more likely to be engaged

Survey Measures Charlotte Region's Social Capital

in parent organizations, neighborhood associations, seniors groups, human service
organizations and self-help/support groups.
· We are less inclined toward informal socializing than the rest of the country. On the CLM index, the region scored a 78. This indicator measures the extent to which people invited friends to their homes, "hung out" with friends in public places such as parks, socialized with friends outside of work and/or visited with relatives.
· The Charlotte region is less trusting than the rest of the country, both socially and inter-racially. The region scored 93 on social trust (whether you can trust other people, such as neighbors, co-workers and local police) and 78 on inter-racial trust (whether you can trust others of a different race).
· Income and education are important indicators of a resident's social capital. People with incomes greater than $75,000 who are college graduates have significantly higher levels of social and racial trust. The numbers related to giving and volunteering and associational involvement show an even greater variance. For example, 67 percent of those with incomes $75,000 or over are high in giving and volunteering, compared to the 22 percent of those with incomes of $30,000 or less.
· The Hispanic community in the Charlotte region is particularly isolated from the rest of society. Twenty-one percent of whites and 22 percent of blacks said they were high in civic participation, while only five percent of Hispanics surveyed said they were. Both 40 percent of whites and blacks were high in giving and volunteering, while that number for Hispanics was only two percent.
"We have much to celebrate, and much to work on," said Foundation president Michael Marsicano. "We are not surprised that the Charlotte region is high in charity and volunteerism. We know this is a giving community."
Marsicano said the Foundation's role in the survey lends itself to fulfilling an important part of the organization's purpose: to improve our communities. "Our experience confirms the survey findings that we are low in the important indices of social and inter-racial trust. Nearly four years ago, we launched the Community Building Initiative to build bridges among different racial and ethnic groups," he said. "Healthy communities are rich in all levels of social capital. We look forward to continuing conversations with community

Survey Measures Charlotte Region's Social Capital

leaders and citizens alike to develop strategies to address the challenges our communities face. In particular, the data presents an extraordinary opportunity to engage the faith community in this important dialogue."
The survey was developed and conducted by professor Dr. Robert Putnam and researchers at The Saguaro Seminar at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Nationally, 30,000 people in 40 communities were surveyed. Locally, 1,500 people in Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Cleveland, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln, Rowan, Mecklenburg, Stanly and Union counties in North Carolina, and Chester, Lancaster and York counties in South Carolina were surveyed. Betty Chafin Rash, executive director of Voices and Choices, a regional visioning initiative, and Dr. William McCoy, executive director of UNC Charlotte's Urban Institute, facilitated the survey and analyzed the results locally.
For more information about the social capital survey, visit these Web sites: www.roper.com, www.bettertogether.org and www.cfsv.org.
Foundation For The Carolinas is a nonprofit organization that serves donors, communities and a broad range of charitable purposes in North and South Carolina. With assets of $255 million, the Foundation encourages and makes possible philanthropic giving by individuals of all means to benefit their communities both now and in the future. More information about the Foundation can be found at http://www.fftc.org.