GENERAL QUESTIONS
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Welcome Week is America's national week of invitation. Every September, communities, neighborhoods, and organizations across the country open their doors to welcome someone new — a neighbor, a colleague, a friend they've been meaning to reconnect with, or someone who just moved to town. It's one week, one simple act, practiced together across America. To welcome someone is to invite them into belonging. Welcome Week is the week we all do that together.
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America has a connection crisis. 1 in 2 Americans are socially disconnected — and it is affecting our health, our economy, and our democracy. Yet most people want more connection in their lives. So why aren't they finding it?
Our research points to two surprising barriers. Most people don't want to show up to something alone. And most people need to be invited in before they feel comfortable enough to come. The problem isn't desire. It's that nobody made the first move.
Here's the other thing our research found: most people are nervous to invite someone. They worry about rejection. They assume the other person is too busy. They tell themselves it will be awkward. But the research tells a completely different story. People are far more likely to say yes than we expect — and far more grateful to be asked than we imagine. We just don't believe it until we try.
Welcome Week exists to make it safer to try. One week where millions of people make the invitation they've been putting off — together, at the same time, across every city in America. When everyone is doing it the same week the awkwardness disappears. The social norm shifts. Inviting becomes easy because everyone is inviting.
Our vision is a national movement that eventually extends millions of invitations during Welcome Week — and inspires people to keep inviting year round. Because connection doesn't end on October 3rd. It just starts there.
In 2026 — our first year — our goal is 10,000 pledges to invite someone during Welcome Week. Join us.
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Welcome Week 2026 runs September 26 – October 3. It coincides with National Good Neighbor Day on September 28 and Blue Star Families Welcome Week.
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Cities and towns can celebrate Welcome Week by issuing a mayoral or gubernatorial proclamation, registering local events on the national calendar, encouraging local institutions and businesses to participate, and partnering with their local Chamber of Connection chapter. We provide proclamation templates and a city activation guide for civic leaders. Contact your local chapter or reach out to us directly at welcome@chamberofconnection.org to get started.
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Welcome Week is a national platform rooted in the United States but open to anyone who shares the belief that connection starts with an invitation. National partners with locations outside the US are welcome and encouraged to activate their global communities during the week.
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We are a national nonprofit building the civic infrastructure for social connection in America. We work with cities, employers, and community organizations to reverse the decline in social connection and trust. Our research shows that 1 in 2 Americans are socially disconnected — and that the solution starts with one simple act: the invitation. Welcome Week is our flagship annual platform. Learn more at chamberofconnection.org.
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A guided, hour-long session that turns your community into a room full of people actively reaching out to invite others into their lives. Guests leave having learned the art of a great invitation, and having actually sent one, live, together.
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Any group that already knows and trusts each other: a workplace team, an ERG, a volunteer group, a social club, a congregation, or a neighborhood association. It works for groups of a handful of people up to 100 or more.
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None. The Facilitator Deck includes a full script, if you can read a slide out loud and keep an eye on a timer, you can run this.
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Log invitations on your Invite-a-Thon page as they're sent during the workshop, so your group can watch your collective count grow in real time.
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A good rule of thumb: your number of attendees × 3, since most people end up sending more than one invitation.
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Yes. If you'd like to open your event to the wider community, you can list it on the national Welcome Week calendar so others can discover and join.
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Yes, this can count- email our team at welcome@chamberofconnection.org and we'll help you log it toward your program.
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Hosts and attendees who want to go deeper can join the Welcome Committee, our national network of neighborhood leaders, or stay involved through future Welcome Week activations.
Invite-a-Thon FAQ
FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS
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To invite someone is to say: there is a place for you here. I thought of you.
Most of us are more nervous to invite than we need to be. We worry about rejection. We assume the other person is too busy. But the research is clear: people say yes far more than we expect. And being asked matters far more than we realize.
A great invitation does five things: it names one specific person, says what and when, tells them why you thought of them, keeps it low pressure, and actually gets sent.
The invitation can be anything. A walk. A potluck. Your yoga class. A game. A coffee. A block party. Something you love that you want to share. It doesn't have to be elaborate. It has to be real.
For example: I love going to yoga and heard you do too. I'm heading to Sol Yoga next Thursday at 2pm — want to join me?
That's it. Specific. Personal. Low pressure. Sent.
The most powerful invitation names one specific person. But an open invitation has its own magic too — post on social media: "Going to the farmers market Saturday — anyone want to join? #welcomeweek2026." You never know who needed to be asked.
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Anyone. The spirit of Welcome Week is creating net new meaningful connection — and that can take many forms.
It might be someone you've never met. The neighbor you've walked past a hundred times. The colleague who just moved to town. Someone who seems isolated and could use a friendly face.
It might be someone you already know well — but you're inviting them into something new. A friend you want to take to your favorite museum for the first time. A family member you want to bring to your yoga class. A colleague you want to show your favorite neighborhood restaurant.
It might be someone you've drifted from. The friend you keep meaning to call. The person you worked with years ago and think about sometimes.
1 in 2 Americans are disconnected. Millions experience loneliness. The person you're thinking of right now — whether they seem fine or not — may need this invitation more than you know.
The one rule: make it real. Not "we should hang out sometime." Something specific, with a time, a place, and a person who receives it.
If you sent it and meant it — it counts.
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Anything. The best invitation is the one that's easy for you to make and meaningful for them to receive.
Start with what you're already doing. Going to yoga Tuesday? Invite someone. Heading to your favorite coffee shop Saturday morning? Bring someone. Already planning a neighborhood walk? Ask a neighbor to join you.
If nothing's on your calendar yet, think about what you love doing and haven't made plans for. A dinner at home. A trip to a museum you love. A game or a concert. Something you've been meaning to do anyway — now you have a reason.
Or try something new together. Find an event happening in your city during Welcome Week and invite someone to discover it with you. A new restaurant. A neighborhood you've never explored. Something neither of you has done before.
The invitation can be one-on-one or to a group. It can be free or ticketed, spontaneous or planned. What matters is that you thought of someone and asked.
FOR ORGANIZATIONS
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Because your organization is already building community. Welcome Week gives you the platform, the tools, and the national story to celebrate that — and grow it.
The most powerful way to grow your community is to engage the one you already have. When you invite your members, customers, or employees to bring someone new to something they love, someone who needed an invitation gets one, your existing community deepens, and your organization grows.
And you're not doing it alone. During Welcome Week your organization becomes part of a national civic moment — thousands of organizations across America opening their doors at the same time. That's a story your members want to be part of. That's a story the press wants to cover.
Participation is free. We provide the badge, the email copy, and the activation toolkit — including research-backed practices for making sure that when people walk through your door, they leave feeling genuinely connected. Not just attended. Connected.
The only thing we ask: invite your community to bring someone new.
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Any organization with a community can host a Welcome Week event. Here are examples of what that looks like in practice:
Running club — email your members: "Bring someone who's been meaning to get back into running. This Saturday's run is a Welcome Week run." Members forward it to one specific person with a personal note: "I thought of you — join us Saturday at 8am at Green Lake."
Cafe — post on your social media and email your regulars: "This week bring a friend you've been meaning to catch up with. Coffee is on us for their first visit." A regular texts a neighbor: "My favorite cafe is doing something fun this week — come with me Thursday morning."
School — the PTA sends a note home: "We're hosting a Welcome Week potluck. Invite one family you've been meaning to get to know." A parent texts the new family on the block: "We're having a potluck at school Friday — would love for you to come with us."
Neighborhood association — send a flyer to every household: "We're hosting a block party during Welcome Week. Knock on one door you've never knocked on and invite your neighbor." A resident walks next door for the first time: "We're doing a block party Saturday. We'd love to have you."
Museum — email your members: "Bring someone who's never been inside. Their first visit is on us this week." A member texts a friend: "I've been going to this museum for years and want to show you my favorite room — Thursday evening, want to come?"
Yoga studio — tell your regulars: "Bring a friend to your favorite class this week. Their first class is free." A regular messages a coworker: "I go to the best yoga class every Tuesday at 6pm at Sol Yoga — I thought of you. Want to come with me this week?"
Faith community — the congregation is invited to bring one person from outside the community to a special Welcome Week gathering. A member reaches out to a neighbor: "We're doing a community dinner at our church Thursday evening — it's open to everyone and I'd love for you to come with me."
Sports team — email season ticket holders: "Bring someone who's never been to a live game. Use this link for a discounted guest ticket." A fan texts a friend: "I have an extra ticket to the game Saturday — you've never been to a live game and I want to fix that. Join me."
Library — promote a neighborhood game night open to all. Staff personally welcome everyone at the door. A regular tells a neighbor: "The library is doing a game night Thursday — it's free and I think you'd love it. Want to go together?"
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Complete the registration form. We'll follow up to make sure we have everything we need and to send you the Welcome Week toolkit — including your badge, email copy, and our research-backed practices for making sure people leave your event feeling genuinely connected.
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Every registered event is listed in the Welcome Week event directory and promoted through our national social media channels. We provide co-branded assets including the Welcome Week badge, a social media template, and a suggested experience prompt to help your guests connect meaningfully during the event. Sponsor-level partners receive additional support including a draft email to send to their list and an activation toolkit.
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Companies play a powerful role in Welcome Week. Here are three ways to participate:
Employee Connection — use Welcome Week as a moment to strengthen connection inside and around your company. Encourage employees to invite a colleague they don't know well to coffee or lunch. Organize a neighborhood walk or lunch to help employees — especially those who recently relocated — discover the community around your workplace. Support local small businesses by encouraging employees to visit and patronize them during the week.
Volunteering — in partnership with Goodera, we offer two structured volunteer experiences during Welcome Week that count toward employee volunteer hours:
Invite-a-Thon — a one-hour facilitated session where employees have connected conversations about the people in their lives they've been meaning to reach out to — and then actually do it. Participants send real invitations by text, email, or DM during the session. The goal: as many meaningful invitations sent as possible in one hour, together.
Welcome Letters — employees write personal letters welcoming newcomers and recently relocated community members to their city — helping people who just arrived feel seen and invited in from day one.
Sponsorship — become a branded Welcome Week sponsor and associate your company with one of the most important civic causes of our time. Local sponsors activate in their city. National sponsors activate across all their locations. Both receive co-branded assets, recognition in press and social media, and a post-week impact report showing the difference your company helped make.
Contact Carolyn at carolyn@chamberofconnection.org to learn more.
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Yes — a quick registration with us ensures your event appears on the Welcome Week national calendar and receives our co-branded assets and social media support. It takes less than five minutes. Your event will remain listed with Good Neighbor Day and Blue Star Families as well. The more places your event appears the better.
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No – you will need to add them to those calendars as well for them to show up.
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National partners are organizations that believe connection is a national priority — and are willing to put their reach behind that belief.
A national partner commits to three things: promoting Welcome Week to their community of 10,000 or more through their own channels and social media, providing their community with the toolkits and resources to host and attend Welcome Week events, and actively encouraging the people they reach to make an invitation during the week.
In return, national partners receive co-branded assets and the Welcome Week badge for their channels, recognition on the national Welcome Week partner page, inclusion in our national press outreach, and the tools to make activation as easy as possible for their community.
Current national partners include Blue Star Families and Good Neighbor Day — organizations that share our belief that connection starts with one simple act.
If your organization reaches 10,000 or more people and wants to be part of the national moment, we'd love to talk. Reach out to welcome@chamberofconnection.org.
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The initial calendar will go live August 1st. Register by July 15th to be included at the launch!