Chapter 06 of 06
450,000+ churches, ministries, and organizations in the US — more than double the number of fast food restaurants, quadruple the number of libraries. The infrastructure exists. The coordination doesn't.
Based on Christianity Today / Gloo / Harvard Human Flourishing Program / Barna, 2025
The scale
Faith organizations in the US
More than fast food restaurants
More than public libraries
Interconnected flourishing factors
The framework
Harvard's Human Flourishing Program, in partnership with Barna and Gloo, identified seven interconnected dimensions. When one improves, the others tend to follow. When one declines, the system degrades.
Spiritual vitality and connection to God. The foundation that the faith ecosystem is uniquely positioned to address — and the dimension that secular flourishing frameworks typically ignore.
Deep, meaningful connections with others. The relational infrastructure that Open Table and similar models leverage as their primary form of capital investment.
A sense of meaning and direction in life. The faith-work movement's core territory — helping people see their daily work as calling, not just employment.
Economic stability and stewardship. Where faith-driven entrepreneurs, investors, and capacity builders directly contribute to flourishing through job creation and wealth generation.
Physical and mental wellbeing. MetroHealth's finding that 90% of 88K patients were at risk for social isolation reveals how deeply health connects to community — and how faith organizations can serve as health infrastructure.
Virtue formation and moral development. The long game of discipleship that churches have practiced for millennia — now recognized by secular research as essential to human flourishing.
Inner peace and satisfaction independent of circumstances. The countercultural dimension — in a culture of perpetual striving, contentment is a radical form of flourishing that faith uniquely offers.
The conviction
Scott Beck, Gloo co-founder
The multiplier
The faith ecosystem is currently siloed and underserved by modern digital technology. But technology — like the steam engine or the printing press — is a force multiplier. The question isn't whether to adopt it, but whether to coordinate its adoption.
A common language for describing ministries, needs, and outcomes. Without shared definitions, data can't flow between organizations. This is the foundation layer.
A shared digital infrastructure where organizations can discover each other, share resources, and coordinate efforts. The technological backbone for collective impact.
A model for recycling capital through the ecosystem — where returns from one venture fund the next, creating a self-sustaining engine of Kingdom investment.
An emerging backbone organization connecting churches, ministries, and organizations across the global faith ecosystem. The coordination layer that Kania and Kramer said was essential.
Collective Impact Labs
Collective Impact Labs is positioning itself as the backbone organization for the faith ecosystem — providing the shared semantic ontology, technology platform, and coordination infrastructure that 450,000+ organizations need to move from isolation to collective impact.
Their approach maps directly onto the Kania-Kramer framework: a common agenda (human flourishing), shared measurement (the seven factors), mutually reinforcing activities (each org contributing its specialty), continuous communication (the platform), and backbone support (Collective Impact Labs itself).
The question is no longer whether the ecosystem is large enough. It's whether the coordination infrastructure can be built fast enough to matter.
The question
The infrastructure exists. The organizations exist. The capital exists. The people exist. The passion exists. What doesn't exist — yet — is the coordination layer that turns isolated efforts into collective impact.
Every chapter in this series points to the same conclusion: the faith-based world has the raw materials for transformative social change. What it lacks is the shared goals, shared measurement, and backbone organizations that Kania and Kramer identified as essential.
Technology is the force multiplier. Relationships are the capital. Coordination is the missing piece. The only remaining question is: who will build it?
The ecosystem is currently siloed and underserved by modern digital technology. But technology is a force multiplier — like the steam engine or the printing press. It doesn't replace the work. It amplifies it.
Frontier Commons analysis, based on Gloo / Christianity Today research, 2025
Explore the full series
Chapter 01
The Kania-Kramer framework and the case for coordination
Chapter 02
The continuum from extractive to redemptive
Chapter 03
Fragmentation in the faith-work movement
Chapter 04
Collaborative giving is not collective impact
Chapter 05
The fragmented entrepreneur support landscape