52 Ways to Increase Social Capital

1. Organize a social gathering to welcome a new neighbor.
2. Join a Rotary club or a similar social action group.
3. Register to vote and vote.
4. Support local merchants.
5. Volunteer your special skills to an NGO
6. Donate blood (with a friend).
7. Start a community garden. Exchange plants and seeds.
8. Mentor someone of a different ethnic or religious group.
9. Surprise a new neighbor by making a favorite dinner – and include the recipe.
10. Tape record your parents’ earliest recollections and share them with your children.
11. Plan a vacation with friends or family.
12. Avoid gossip.
13. Help fix someone’s flat tire.
14. Organize or participate in a sports league.
15. Join a Book club.
16. Attend home parties when invited.
17. Become an organ donor or blood marrow donor.
18. Attend your children’s athletic contests, plays and recitals.
19. Get to know your children’s teachers.
20. Sing in a choir.
21. Get to know the clerks and sales people at your local stores.
22. Volunteer in your child’s classroom or chaperone a field trip.
23. Join or start a baby-sitting cooperative.
24. Attend Memorial Day parades and express appreciation for others.
25. Offer to shop for a sick neighbour.
26. Have family dinners and read to your children.
27. Go to church or temple or walk outside with your children; talk to them about why it’s important.
28. Take dance lessons with a friend.
29. Gather a group to clean up a local park or cemetery.
30. Say hello to strangers.
31. Log off and go to the park.
32. Ask a new person to join a group for a dinner or an evening.
33. Play host to a potluck meal or participate in them.
34. Volunteer to drive someone.
35. Say hello when you spot an acquaintance in a store.
36. Play host to a movie night.
37. Exercise together or take walks with friends or family.
38. Assist with or create your town or neighborhood’s newsletter.
39. Start a group to discuss local issues.
40. Pick it up even if you didn’t drop it – trash.
41. Join a project that includes people from all walks of life.
42. Sit on your verandha.
43. Be nice when you drive.
44. Make gifts of time.
45. Send a “thank you” letter to the editor about a person or event that helped build community
46. When inspired, write personal notes to friends and neighbors.
47. Organize a fitness/health group with your friends or co-workers.
48. Ask to see a friend’s family photos.
49. Start a laughter club.
50. Help someone who least expects it.
51. Say “thanks” to public servants: police, firefighters, doctors and nurses in government centers.
52. Open the door for someone who has his or her hands full.