Other flesh and blood players can donate to public works projects, even people just visiting your town, not just other residents! Hope for rich friends!

Villagers do contribute towards public works projects, but the amount tends to be so negligible that you'll still end up paying for the majority of the project yourself. They do this automatically, and there's no dialogue option to engage or encourage them to do so.

There are only two things that a villager can interact with: you, and the house.

You

Most of the conversational interaction is just fluff and commenting about your home. The villager will mostly wander around a little until the visit is over.

The House

During the short time frame of the visit, one of these furniture-related events may happen:

• When a villager visits your home, speaking to the villager may eventually result in him/her making a remark about your home "missing something". This is usually followed by the villager giving you a present that he/she thinks would go well with your home.

• When you visit a villager's home, speaking to the villager may eventually result in him/her offering furniture in his/her home for sale. However, certain items won't be sold to you, such as tables with objects on them, or furniture characteristic to the villager's personality/preferences.

During the end of a villager's visit, you also have to answer a question about how appealing the home is. Despite the fact that the villager can be offended by praise, or even be delighted by criticism, this part doesn't actually do anything meaningful.