Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network

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Nonprofit Voting News - Receive monthly updates on new resources, activity ideas and highlights of the role of nonprofits are playing in the 2008 elections. See a recent issue.

Election Reform and Voter Turnout News - A monthly digest of trends in voter turnout, progress on election reform and emerging voting issues. See a a recent issue.

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More webinars are coming in August and September. Please check back here on Friday, July 25th to see the schedule.

NVEN's free online trainings provide 501(c)(3) nonprofits with the information they need to begin to incorporate voter participation activities into their ongoing work.

About Us

Mission and Goals

Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network (NVEN) is dedicated to expanding the role of America’s nonprofits in voting and elections. NVEN works with state nonprofit VOTE initiatives and its national website to provide resources and tools for 501(c)(3) nonprofits to help their communities participate and vote.

The Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network is a national nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. NVEN has with state nonprofit vote partners in Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania – listed below.

Building lasting capacity for nonpartisan, nonprofit voter participation
Providing resources and support to 501(c)(3) nonprofit voter participation initiatives that work year-round to increase the number of nonprofits integrating voter engagement activities into to their on-going work.
Seeking sustained increases in voter participation, especially those voters with a recent history of lower participation – through engaging voters where they gather to work, learn, advocate and receive services.
Broaden support for the revitalization of democracy and election reforms
Strengthening the nonprofit sector and encouraging new civic leadership

State Partners

NVEN’s state partners have year-round voter participation programs. Their staff and partners provide voter engagement resources to their state and region’s broad nonprofit community.

Louisiana
LA Votes

A program of the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations

Massachusetts
MassVOTE

An independent public charity, founded in 1999 to serve Boston and Massachusetts

Massachusetts
CareVOTE

A program of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers

Michigan
Michigan Participation Project

A program of the Michigan Nonprofit Association

Minnesota
Minnesota Participation Project

A program of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits

Ohio
OhioVotes

A program of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio

Pennsylvania
Everybody Vote

A partnership of nonprofit organizations in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania

National Association of Community Health Clinics

Community Health Vote

Other State Partners

In addition NVEN works with other state nonprofit associations and nonprofit partners in states to provide voter participation materials to 501c3s in their states, including the:

Colorado Nonprofit Association
Connecticut Association of Nonprofits
Connecticut Association of Human Services
Maine Association of Nonprofits
Montana Nonprofit Association
N.C. (North Carolina) Center for Nonprofits
New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits
New Mexico Association of Grantmakers
New Mexico Community Foundation

If you work with a state nonprofit associations, human service alliances or other state nonprofit collaborations serving the broader nonprofit sector and interesting in expanding your work on voter participation, we would be glad to have you contact us (go to Staff Directory or Contact Us page).

NVEN Leadership Council

L-R Jocelyn Travis, Erin Skene, Marcia Avner, Michael Weekes

Michael Weekes, President/CEO
Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers
Michael a national leader for the Nonprofit Congress and recent Board Chair of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations. He has served on numerous commissions and task forces focused on the human service, government and nonprofit sectors.

Marcia Avner, Public Policy Director
Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
Marcia authored widely used books on nonprofit lobbying and advocacy including Advocating for Your Community: The Nonprofit Organization’s Guide to State and Local Lobbying (2002). She chairs and serves on a number of nonprofit boards including: Charity Lobbying the Public Interest, Washington, DC, Jewish Community Action, Wellstone Action, and Sheila Wellstone Institute.

Erin Skene, Public Policy Director
Michigan Nonprofit Association
Erin authored Nonprofit Advocacy: A Michigan Primer. Prior to working at MPPI, Erin held the position of Statewide Project Coordinator on Campaign Finance Reform for the League of Women Voters of Michigan and is a Trustee for Boarshead Theatre in Lansing.

Jocelyn Travis, State Director
OhioVOTES, a program of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing of Ohio
Jocelyn Travis has worked on voter participation issues throughout her career. She directed the Election Protection program of People for the American Way in 2004. Jocelyn has been active in the Greater Cleveland Voter Coalition and serves as Cleveland Branch Secretary for the NAACP where she has volunteered for more than 30 years.

Advisory Board

Audrey Alvarado, National Council of Nonprofit Associations
Diana Aviv, Independent Sector
Harriet Barlow, HKH Foundation
Gary Bass, OMB Watch
Jeffrey Berry, Tufts University
Kafi Blumenfield, Liberty Hill Foundation
John Bridgeland, Civic Enterprises, LLC
Kari Dunn, The Case Foundation
Pablo Eisenberg, Georgetown Public Policy Institute
Kathay Feng, California Common Cause
Cynthia M. Gibson, Cynthesis Consulting
Deborah Goldberg, Brennan Center for Justice
Peter Goldberg, Alliance for Children and Families
Hon. Amo Houghton, Former Member of Congress

Hon. Joan Growe, Former Secretary of State of Minnesota
Alexander Keyssar, Kennedy School of Government
Kim Klein, Klein & Roth Consulting
Kelly LeRoux, University of Kansas
Peter Levine, CIRCLE-Tisch College of Citizenship
Daniella Levine, Human Services Coalition of Miami Dade
Dr. Michael McDonald, George Mason University
Michael McGrath, National Civic League
Linda Nguyen, Alliance for Children and Families
Frank Omowale Satterwhite, National Community Development Institute
Norman Ornstein, The American Enterprise Institute
Lawrence Ottinger, Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest
Jon Pratt, Minnesota Council of Nonprofits
Miles Rapoport, Demos
Gibran X Rivera, Interaction Institute for Social Change
Mark Rosenman, The Union Institute
Nancy Tate, League of Women Voters
Liz Towne, Alliance for Justice
Tracy Westen, Center for Governmental Studies

Supporters

California Community Foundation
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Funding Exchange
HKH Foundation
Mitchell Kapor Foundation
Open Society Institute
Rockefeller Brothers Fund
The George Gund Foundation
The John Merck Fund
The Solidago Foundation
Surdna Foundation
Tides Foundation
Other family foundations
and individual donors

National Office Staff

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,National Coordinator, St. Paul Office, 651.642.1904 x246
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,Policy and Development Director, Boston Office, 617.357.8683
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,Research Associate, Boston Office, 617.357.8683

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,Communications Associate, Boston Office, 617.357.8683

This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,Development Associate, Los Angeles Office, 310.200.1560
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ,Mapping and Data, Milwaukee Office

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