What Is Welcoming America?

Welcoming America is a nonprofit organization that leads a movement of inclusive communities working to ensure everyone belongs, including immigrants. It connects a broad network of nonprofits and local governments and supports them in becoming more welcoming places. If you are a local government, community organization, or individual looking to advance belonging in your area, the site points to three main paths: joining the Welcoming Network, participating in Welcoming Week, or supporting the mission through a donation.

What Welcoming America Does

The organization describes its work as "Building a Nation of Neighbors." Its role is twofold: it leads a movement of inclusive communities that become more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs, and it provides direct support to a network of nonprofits and local governments working toward that goal.

The site frames "welcoming" as a defined standard rather than a vague aspiration. A dedicated section, "What is Welcoming?", explains how the organization defines welcoming places through the Welcoming Standard. Communities that want to be assessed against that standard can pursue a Certified Welcoming designation — the site's news section notes that Worcester became Welcoming America's 50th Certified Welcoming Community, and that Durham and Durham County achieved a Certified Welcoming designation, while Salem achieved a 3-Star Certified Welcoming designation.

Ways to Get Involved

The homepage lists three entry points, each aimed at a different audience:

If your goal is to connect your organization or municipality with peers and resources, the Welcoming Network is the relevant starting point. If you want a time-bound way to engage residents, Welcoming Week is the campaign to look at. The site does not publish pricing or eligibility details for membership on the homepage, so check the membership page before assuming cost or requirements.

Resources and Stories

Beyond programs, the site publishes practical material for communities building belonging:

• Narrative in Action: A Toolkit for Framing, Messaging, and Storytelling in Welcoming Communities — described as step-by-step guidance for building narratives of local belonging: how communities welcome, include, and grow together. It is tagged under Connected Communities, Equitable Access, and Government and Community Leadership.
• Stories of Impact — case profiles of communities putting the work into practice. One example is Gunnison, Colorado, a rural mountain town of about 16,000 residents where local organizations and leaders have been growing efforts for connection and belonging.
• News & Resources — press releases on new Certified Welcoming designations, blog posts such as a recap of #WelcomingWeek2026, and links to the full resource library.

The Gunnison story is useful if you work in a small or rural community: it shows the work being adapted to a low-population area rather than only large cities.

How to Decide Where to Start

• You represent a local government or nonprofit ready to formalize the work: start with the Welcoming Network and the Welcoming Standard, then consider whether a Certified Welcoming designation fits your capacity.
• You want a ready-made framework for communication and storytelling: download the Narrative in Action toolkit before designing your own messaging.
• You want to engage residents quickly: look into Welcoming Week participation.
• You want examples before committing: read the Stories of Impact profiles, such as Gunnison, for a sense of what the work looks like on the ground.

Each of these paths is described on the site with its own page; use those pages to confirm current details, timelines, and any requirements before planning around them.