Like most community foundations, The Miami Foundation exists to do much more than help donors give money to their favorite causes.

It also aims to do something much more profound: to identify important community problems and play a leading role in engaging its residents to address these problems.

Javier Soto, the foundation’s president, explains its approach to community engagement in the above video — and discusses how community foundations play a crucial role as independent leaders who can bring together government, business, nonprofits, and individuals to spotlight key issues and then mobilize the resources necessary to address these issues.

And while the Miami Foundation offers a leading-edge example of how a community foundation can drive engagement, it is far from the only example.

In cities and towns in every corner of the country, community foundations and their donors are working together to engage citizens to improve schools, build libraries, tackle environmental issues, combat opioid abuse, and address myriad other issues.

To learn how community foundations and donors are using one popular form of giving — donor-advised funds — to drive civic engagement, check out Donor-Advised Funds & Civic Engagement, a recent report by the Community Foundation Public Awareness Initiative that includes examples from communities large and small across the United States.