In the coming months, Nonprofit VOTE will be building out our Nonprofits Count resource library to help nonprofits engage in and support a fair and accurate Census in 2020. Nonprofits, as we did in 2010, can help ensure the communities we serve are counted. Before we get to the counting part though, there are some read more
Thanks to all who were able to attend our June 7th webinar “Countdown to National Voter Registration Day!” Special thanks to MOVE San Antonio’s Alyssa Pope and Disability Rights New York’s Yasmine Kamel for lending us their expertise on how best to host awesome National Voter Registration Day events. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the read more
Thanks to all who were able to attend our May 17th webinar “Reaching Young Voters” Special thanks to Inspire U.S.’s Hannah Mixdorf, LeadMN’s Cecilia Damian, and HeadCount’s Andy Bernstein for lending us their expertise. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here are a few of read more
THE FOLLOWING IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE VOTER ENGAGEMENT TOOLKIT FOR COMMUNITY FOUNDATIONS. Click here to learn more and to download the foundation toolkits. Foundations and nonprofits are well positioned to increase voter and civic participation within the communities they serve. They’re trusted messengers, deeply rooted in local communities and invested for the long read more
Thanks to all who were able to attend our March 29th webinar “Engaging New Voters: How Nonprofits Can Close the Voter Participation Gap.” Special thanks to CRC America’s Emily Shamsid-Deen and Nonprofit VOTE’s Brian Miller for lending us their expertise. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here are a read more
Webinar Roundup: Engaging New Voters–How Nonprofits Can Close the Voter Participation Gap Thanks to all who were able to attend our March 29th webinar “Engaging New Voters–How Nonprofits Can Close the Voter Participation Gap.” Special thanks to Emily Shamsid-Deen and Brian Miller for lending us their expertise. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, read more
Since the school shooting in Parkland, Florida in February, teenagers from around the country have not only organized a large demonstration in Washington, D.C (in addition to nearly 800 more cities). and inspired a nationwide walkout on March 14, they have ignited an interest in getting young people registered to vote. However, registering people under read more
Webinar Rundown: Being Nonpartisan 2018 Voter Engagement Dos and Don’ts for 501(c)(3) Nonprofits Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our March 8 webinar “Being Nonpartisan: 2018 Voter Engagement Dos and Don’ts for 501(c)(3) Nonprofits” Special thanks to David Levitt for lending us his expertise. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, read more
No matter which candidates walk away with the most votes in the 2018 Texas primaries, there has been one clear winner from the beginning — the voters. Even before Tuesday’s ballots are counted, Texan voters took advantage of their rights and cast early votes in record numbers. According to Texas Secretary of State office, early read more
Webinar Rundown: Plan Ahead 2018 Part 2 Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our February 22nd webinar “Plan Ahead 2018 Part 2” Special thanks to Cheryl Ellis for lending us her expertise. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here are a few read more
Webinar Rundown: Plan Ahead 2018 Part 1 Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our February 8th webinar “Plan Ahead 2018 Part 1” Special thanks to Cheryl Ellis for lending us her expertise. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here are a few read more
Webinar Rundown: The Problem of Low Voter Turnout in Local Elections, 2017 Thank you to everyone who attended our November 14th webinar on “The Problem of Low Voter Turnout in Local Elections.” We would like to offer special thanks to Phil Kiesling for sharing his expertise with us. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the read more
Fair Voting Methods for Multi-Seat Elections: Limited Voting, Cumulative Voting, proportional Ranked Choice Voting Limited Voting, Cumulative Voting, and the proportional form of Ranked Choice Voting are the three main voting methods used as a “fair vote” alternative to the winner-take-all, plurality voting method used in At-Large elections. These include city councils, school committees, read more
Webinar Rundown: AAPI Vote 2017 Thank you to everyone who attended our October 19th webinar on “The Asian American and Pacific Islander Vote.” We would like to offer special thanks to Karthick Ramakrishnan for sharing his expertise with us. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here read more
Webinar Rundown: Working with Candidates 2017 Thank you to everyone who attended our October 12th webinar on “Working with Candidates.” We would like to offer special thanks to Cheryl Clyburn Crawford for sharing her expertise with us. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here are a read more
Due to the unique evolution of democracy in the United States, elections are still largely administered by the states. While the rules vary, most states require you to register to vote prior to casting a ballot on Election Day, in some cases as much as 30 days in advance. So when do you need to read more
The Bias of At-Large Elections: How it Works “The Oldest Trick in the Book” If you want to rig a local election, there’s an easier way than stuffing a ballot box, gerrymandering a district, or amassing a campaign war chest to scare off challengers. Have your city or county adopt winner-take-all “At-Large” voting, where, instead read more
Two Examples of the Bias of At-Large Voting: From Non-election Settings The examples show how the use of standard plurality At-Large voting method allows one voting block to determine not just their fair share but all the choices. Under plurality at-large voting rules, voters may cast as many votes as there are choices. They may read more
Nonprofit VOTE 6/20/2017 Webinar Resources: On June 20, 2017, Nonprofit VOTE held a webinar, “Running for Office: Pipelining Nonprofit Leaders“. We would like to offer special thanks to German Cash of New American Leaders Project and Shannon Garrett of SMG Strategies for making the time to share their expertise with all of us. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, read more
Challenging At Large Voting in Lowell: Resources & Fact Sheets On May 17th, Asian-American and Latino voters in Lowell filed a lawsuit against the city for its use of At-Large Voting to elect its City Council and School Committee. The complaint filed in Federal District court said the at-large system where all nine city councilors read more
Webinar Rundown: Being Nonpartisan 2017 Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our webinar last week “Being Nonpartisan.” We would like to offer special thanks to David Levitt of Adler & Colvin for making the time to share his legal expertise with all of us. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download read more
Political Competition Hits Historic Low: Part Three The Electoral College (This three part series focuses on four foundational election practices that limit political competition and voter choice – methods not meant to be permanent and adopted in the 18th century when democracy was new, populations small, and few candidates or parties or people eligible to read more
Webinar Rundown: Register Your Constituents to Vote Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our webinar last week “Register Your Constituents to Vote in 2017.” We would like to offer special thanks to Cheryl Ellis of Democracy North Carolina and Emily Shamsid-Deen of Community Resource Center in Denver Colorado for lending us read more
Political Competition Hits Historic Low: Part Two Money and Politics (This three part series focuses on four foundational election practices that limit political competition and voter choice – methods not meant to be permanent and adopted in the 18th century when democracy was new, populations small, and candidates, parties and people eligible to vote few. read more
Voter File 101: The Benefits of Using the Voter File in Civic Engagement and Advocacy Thank you to all of you who were able to attend our April 18th webinar “Voter File 101: The Benefits of Using the Voter File in Civic Engagement and Advocacy.” We would also like to thank George Christie and Chris read more
Political Competition Hits Historic Low: Part One The Anti-Competitive Impact of Winner-Take-All Voting and Partisan Redistricting Democracy cannot be just defined by the right to vote. Voters must also be offered meaningful choices between candidates and a genuine degree of electoral competition. Outside of a few battleground states, competition was hard to find in 2016. read more
One Reason People Don’t Vote: They’re Not Contacted Did you know that in 2016, four in ten of the nation’s 231 million eligible voters didn’t vote. One reason is that, in spite of the election’s pervasive exposure in the media, the majority of eligible voters were never personally contacted about voting by a candidate or campaign. read more
Thank you to everyone who attended our most recent webinar, America Goes to the Polls 2016. A special thanks to our presenters, Dr. Michael McDonald, Dorian McCaal, and our own Brian Miller for sharing their time and expertise. Here’s the contact information for each presenter: Dr. Michael P. McDonald Associate Professor, Department of Political Science read more
Nonpartisan Redistricting: Citizen Commissions Drawing Districts While 2016 was momentous, the 2020 election is arguably a bigger political event. The presidential contest coincides with the election of state legislators who control the next round of redistricting – drawing new lines for their state’s Congressional seat and their own seats for the decade to come. While read more
The Electoral College: A Compromise Never Meant to Last For the fifth time the Electoral College, the constitutional compromise principally forged to get slaveholder states to sign the constitution, elected the candidate with fewer actual votes than the popular vote winner. Again questions are being raised about why the framers came up with scheme. Is read more
A big thank you to everyone who attended last week’s webinar “Plan Ahead 2017 Part 2: Nonpartisan Voter Engagement Tactics for Nonprofits.” We appreciate your excellent questions and comments. If you were unable to attend the webinar you can watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s Youtube channel now; download the PowerPoint presentation; or download the audio MP3. The two new read more
Our first webinar of 2017, “Plan Ahead 2017: Creating a Voter Engagement Plan and Timeline for Your Nonprofit,” is now in the books. If you were unable to attend the webinar you can watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s Youtube channel now; download the PowerPoint presentation; or download the audio MP3. The two new resources mentioned during the webinar are also read more
Our November webinar, one week after the election, focused changes in the composition of the electorate, voter turnout and election and voting trends. Thanks again to the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities for their generous support of the webinar. Support like theirs helps keep our webinars FREE and accessible for all! To learn more, click here. If you read more
BOURBON STEAK at Four Seasons Hotel Washington, DC is getting into the election spirit and doing its own polling, the good old-fashioned way—all with the added benefit of supporting Nonprofit VOTE. Now through Election Day, guests who order one of the four specialty Presidential Cocktails concocted by head bartender Torrence Swain will be given a vintage style ballot read more
We hosted two Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) oriented webinars in September and October. In September, we focused on GOTV techniques rooted in scientific research (sponsored by the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities), and this past Thursday we focused on how GOTV activities specifically look like in a nonprofit setting (sponsored by YWCA-USA). Thanks again to the Alliance read more
Last Thursday we hosted a specialized webinar focused on Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Voter Engagement Messaging and Tactics, sponsored by the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities. Thanks again, Alliance for Strong Families and Communities! These generous sponsorships help keep our webinars FREE and accessible for all! To learn more, click here. To the read more
Interest in National Voter Registration Day, set to take place on Tuesday September 27th this year, is running high. Last Thursday’s webinar on how to get involved in NVRD attracted 569 interested nonprofit staff, volunteers and others, setting a new record for Nonprofit VOTE. If you missed the webinar, you can now watch it on YouTube, and read more
Last Thursday, we were very fortunate to be joined by Jennifer Clark, Counsel for the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program and the Honorable Phillip Keisling, Director of the Center for Public Service, located in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University and former Oregon Secretary of State to discuss promising reforms to read more
November 8th is just weeks away. Early voting starts in a month in early October in some states. There’s still a great deal your nonprofit can do to encourage voting and raise the profile of Election Day. Promote Early Voting Opportunities. Early voting can allow voters to avoid lines and provides additional flexibility in casting read more
Webinar Rundown: Nonprofit Votes Count Last Thursday we held a webinar on Nonprofit Votes Count, a campaign headed by Nonprofit VOTE, United Way Worldwide, Independent Sector, and National Council of Nonprofits that focuses on the capacity of the nonprofit sector to do voter engagement work! If you missed the webinar, you can now watch the recording on read more
Voting by Mail in Colorado, Oregon and Washington An under noticed reform that may be changing the future of how we vote Imagine a new voter walking for the first time into their polling location – hopefully the right one – nervous about lines, their ID and the check in. They then face the bigger read more
What Nonprofit Staff Can(‘t) Do: Political Activities On and Off the Clock Last Thursday, we held a webinar on what nonprofit staff can and cannot do when it comes to political activities. If you missed the webinar, you can now watch the recording on our YouTube channel and download both the PowerPoint presentation and audio read more
Webinar Rundown: Voter Registration at Community Health Centers Last Thursday, Nonprofit VOTE held a webinar for community health centers interested in conducting voter registration in the lead up to the presidential election. We were fortunate to be joined by three excellent speakers on the topic: Andrea Abel of Texas Association of Community Health Centers, Allan read more
You Too Can “Win the White House” An online educational game for students and everyone by iCivics iCivics, one of the largest classroom-based digital civics educational resources in the country, has released an updated version of Win the White House , the popular game that teaches students the electoral process by putting them in read more
VIP: Delivering Non-Partisan Voting Information in 2016 What’s the first thing you do when you realize there’s an election coming? If you’re like most people, you probably open a search engine and search “where’s my polling place?” or “what’s on my ballot?” To make sure you can find this information and trust what you find, read more
Webinar Rundown: Take a Stand in 2016 Ballotpedia.org, an online encyclopedia of American politics and elections, predicts that somewhere between 150 and 200 ballot measures will appear on ballots around the country this November. The most popular issues, including legalizing marijuana, expanding healthcare, and raising the minimum wage, will appear on ballots in several states. read more
Webinar Rundown: Working with Candidates in 2016 Our recent webinar on the various ways in which a 501(c)(3) nonprofit can interact with candidates for public office produced some interesting questions. Before I get to those, Nonprofit VOTE would like to thank Cheryl Clyburn Crawford of Mass VOTE for her invaluable insights into how to host a successful candidate forum. read more
End Partisan Redistricting by 2020 With all eyes on 2016, the election in 2020 is arguably a bigger political event. In four years the presidential contest will coincide with the election of state legislatures who control the next round of redistricting – drawing new lines for Congress and themselves. While we brace for another read more
We are pleased to announce that we have just launched a newly-updated and expanded online library of nonpartisan voter engagement resources for 2016. The resource library, which can be found at www.nonprofitvote.org/resource-library, provides guidance, how-to’s, and best practices on a range of voter engagement activities, including staying nonpartisan, organizing voter registration drives, convening candidate forums, read more
Last week, a unanimous Supreme Court swept away a challenge to the principle of “one person, one vote”. The challenge brought by a Texas legal advocate would have allowed Texas and other states to create legislative districts based on a count of eligible voters – and not the accepted standard of total population. Speaking for read more
After a long delay, we’re finally posting the materials from our March 17th webinar on Being Nonpartisan. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here are a few of the other resources we mentioned during the webinar: Benefits read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last week’s webinar “The Benefits of Voting.” Thank you also for all of your questions. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact George Pillsbury or Julian Johannesen. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last week’s webinar “Getting Started in 2016.” We would also like to thank you for the great questions. If you have any more questions, please feel free to contact Lindsey Hodel or Julian Johannesen. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio read more
… Well 97 years and counting. The American Legion’s strong tradition of voter and civic engagement kicked off again this election year when in January it made a 2016 call to Legionnaires to exercise their duty as active citizens and promote get out the vote activities in this year’s presidential campaign. Forty-five years before the IRS read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend yesterday’s webinar “Plan Ahead 2016.” One hundred twenty nine of you joined the webinar! We could not be happier to see that kind of enthusiasm for nonpartisan voter outreach work. We would also like to thank you for the great questions. If you have any more questions, read more
Today, as a part of our “Ready for 2016” initiative, Nonprofit VOTE is happy to release the first two of more than 25 updated resources we’ll be rolling out for 2016! Our “2016 Voter Registration and Engagement Timeline” providers a month by month checklist for planning your organization’s voter registration and voter outreach activities in read more
Transactions of every kind are moving online and have been for a while. ATMs appeared in New York in 1969 and you could bank online by the 1980s. It’s 2016 and in a world wired and wireless, voting and voter registration may be the last bastion ruled by pen and paper. Some say it’s read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend yesterday’s webinar “Engaging New Voters in 2016.” More than 166 people joined the webinar! That’s one of the highest turnouts we’ve ever had. We really do appreciate your interest and all of your great questions. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and read more
This evening, Nonprofit VOTE released a new report that examines the impact nonprofits have when they engage the communities they serve in voting and elections. Engaging New Voters: The Impact of Nonprofit Voter Outreach on Client and Community Turnout is based on an analysis of 129 nonprofits that did voter engagement work across nine states read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend yesterday’s webinar “Election Reform Gains in 2015.” Special thanks go to Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar read more
In 2015, 40 Secretaries of State and state election offices promoted voter registration by endorsing National Voter Registration Day and National Voter Registration Month. See the full story below or open it in a new tab. [View the story “Secretaries of State #CelebrateNVRD in 2015” on Storify]
Among the most foundational rights as a citizen is the right to vote. It’s also one of a citizen’s most important responsibilities along with serving on a jury when called and paying ones taxes. This right is compromised by an outdated, still largely paper registration system that differs in all 50 states. One in four read more
In just one week, thousands of elections will be held across the country for everything from school board member to city councilor to mayor. Whatever’s on your ballot, make sure that you, your staff, volunteers, clients and consumers are ready to vote! One way to do that is to use Nonprofit VOTE’s “Voting in Your read more
The November 3rd elections are just two weeks away! Are you, your staff members, volunteers, clients, consumers, and community members ready to get out and vote? Here are three simple things you can do to make sure. 1. Make sure voters know when, where and how to vote early, whether in person or by mail. read more
On Saturday Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 1461 (along with 13 other voting and election bills), making California the second state to adopt automatic voter registration. Oregon did so earlier this year. In Oregon, an estimated 300,000 voters could be added to the rolls with automatic registration. In California, the Secretary of State’s office reports read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last Thursday’s webinar “Nonprofits Get Out The Vote.” Special thanks go to our own, Helena Berbano. Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. Quick Links: Here are a few of the read more
Election Day 2015 is less than two months away. Find out what your nonprofit can do to encourage voting and help get your community to the polls! Nonprofits Get Out the Vote Thursday, October 1st at 2:00pm Eastern You’ve done the hard work of registering your community, now it’s time to turn them out to read more
This post is adapted from a September 8, 2015 article by Melissa Barwick, State Policy Associate at the National Council of Nonprofits’ website. How does voter engagement really align with a nonprofit’s mission? That’s a question many nonprofit professionals have probably asked themselves in the weeks since the launch of Nonprofit Votes Count, the nonpartisan read more
Last week Pennsylvania became the latest state to implement online voter registration. Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia currently offer online registration or have enacted legislation to permit it. Online registration has seen incredible growth in recent years because it is convenient for voters, reduces data entry errors, and cuts election administration costs. Pennsylvania’s read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend yesterday’s webinar “Voter Registration at Your Nonprofit.” Special thanks go to yesterday’s speaker, Rebecca Gorrell of theColorado Participation Project. . Webinar Materials: Please feel free to download yesterday’s webinar PowerPoint and audio file, or watch the webinar on Nonprofit VOTE’s YouTube channel. . Sign Up! If read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend yesterdays’ webinar “Celebrate National Voter Registration Day!” Special thanks go to yesterday’s speakers,Maggie Bush of the League of Women Voters, Jessica Reeves of Voto Latino andFiona Yau-Luu of the Bus Federation Civic Fund. . Sign Up! If you haven’t done so yet, please be sure to sign read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend yesterday’s webinar“Nonprofit Votes Count: Tactics and Strategies to Register Your Staff to Vote.” Special thanks go to yesterday’s speakers, our own Brian Miller,Jan Masaoka of the California Association of Nonprofits, and Jatrice Martel Gaiter of Volunteers of America. . Sign Up! sign up for the campaign. Signing up means you’ll be listed as read more
August 9th – 15th marks National Health Center Week, a week recognizing our nation’s Community, Migrant, Homeless and Public Housing Health Centers. National Health Center Week has been celebrated for more than 30 years, and celebrates the contributions of the more than 9,000 community health centers nationwide that provide free and reduced cost medical care read more
When it comes to elections, the nonprofit sector is the only sector required by law to be nonpartisan. Why shouldn’t the administration of elections have the same requirement? Unfortunately, most states still allow legislative incumbents to choose their voters before voters get to choose them. Last week the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court read more
Last week, Nonprofit VOTE, Independent Sector, National Council of Nonprofits, and United Way Worldwide launched a campaign to encourage nonprofit staff, board members and other volunteers to get registered and to vote. “Voter registration is the first step in making our voices heard as citizens,” said Geoff Plague, Vice President of Public Policy for Independent read more
Nonprofit VOTE has joined with Independent Sector, National Council of Nonprofits and United Way Worldwide in a campaign to encourage nonprofit staff, board members and other volunteers to get registered and to vote. Called Nonprofit Votes Count, the campaign makes available a wealth of resources that make it easy for nonprofits like yours to ensure read more
Three webinars in one month? Really? Yes. August is an exciting month here at Nonprofit VOTE. Use the links below to sign up for the webinar(s) of your choice. Nonprofit Votes Count: Tactics and Strategies to Register Your Staff to Vote Tuesday, August 11th at 2:00pm Eastern Join the campaign to ensure that every read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend Tuesday’s webinar, Laws on the Ballot: Ballot Measure Advocacy for Nonprofits. We would like to offer special thanks to our featured presenter, Abby Levine, legal director of Bolder Advocacy. Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint as a PDF, download an audio recording of the read more
The Knight Foundation recently released research about the barriers and motivators for local voting, specifically focusing on “drop-off millennial voters,”–people ages 20 to 34 who voted in the last national election but not in recent local elections. Local elections are missing millions of millennial voters who participate in national elections but not ones in their read more
Did you know that your nonprofit can encourage your constituents to vote for or against a ballot measure? Join us to learn more about what nonprofits can do on ballot measures: Laws on the Ballot: Ballot Measure Advocacy for Nonprofits Tuesday, July 14th at 2:00pm Eastern Nonprofits cannot support or oppose candidates, but they can read more
HIPAA is the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and one of its primary goals is to protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information. Protecting patient information is paramount for health centers, but complying with HIPAA does not prevent them from successfully conducting voter outreach with patients. What are the HIPAA read more
Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) voters represent one of the fastest growing voting blocs in the United States, doubling in size since 1996 to over nine million eligible voters today. In the 2014 midterm, the AAPI turnout rate had the highest growth among all groups since the last midterm. Despite this upswing, as a new read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last Thursday’s webinar, Candidate Engagement: Candidate Forums, Appearances and More. We would like to offer special thanks to our featured presenter Cheryl Clyburn Crawford, executive director of MassVOTE. Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint presentation, download an audio recording of the webinar or watch the read more
The Independent Sector, National Council of Nonprofits, Nonprofit VOTE and United Way Worldwide are sponsoring a national campaign called Nonprofit Votes Count to encourage nonprofit employees and volunteers to register and vote, and to build awareness among the charitable community about how many engaged voters are in our coalitions. Join us for a free digital read more
Your nonprofit cannot support or oppose candidates but that doesn’t mean you can’t engage them. RSVP to learn more during next week’s webinar Candidate Engagement: Forums, Appearances and More Thursday, June 11th at 2:00pm Eastern Candidate engagement is a powerful way not only to educate your constituents about the candidates and issues, but to make read more
Yesterday, Vermont became the 14th state to pass Election Day Registration (the 15th jurisdiction, including the District of Columbia). The new law will take effect January 1, 2017. That means that for the 2016 presidential election (and all local elections before then) voters will need to register by the Wednesday before Election Day. Vermont joins read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last Thursday’s webinar, Getting Started: Nonpartisan Voter Engagement for Nonprofits. We would like to offer special thanks to our featured presenters Erika Anthony, senior director of advocacy, policy & research at Cleveland Neighborhood Progress and Lindsey Hodel, national field director at Nonprofit VOTE. Please feel free read more
This week, the Vermont House passed a bill that will allow voters to register to vote at a polling place on Election Day. Under the current law, the registration deadline is the Wednesday before the election. The House made a few changes to the original Senate bill text, which the Senate concurred with on Thursday. read more
In 2014, Nonprofit VOTE conducted a multi-state study to analyze the voter engagement strategies of nonprofit service providers. More than 100 nonprofits participated, reaching more than 45,000 clients, consumers, and constituents about registering or pledging to vote. Early analysis has revealed that in North Carolina, nonprofits participating in the study had a significant impact on read more
Are you eager to “get started” doing voter engagement work, but unsure of how to begin? Join us next week for a nonpartisan voter engagement primer: Getting Started: Nonpartisan Voter Engagement for Nonprofits Thursday, May 14th at 2:00pm Eastern This introduction to nonprofit voter engagement work covers the basics–voter registration, voter education, candidate engagement, ballot read more
A new and growing dialogue about increasing voter participation is in the air, and for good reason. Voter turnout in the last midterm election, at 37% of eligible voters, was the lowest the nation has seen since World War II. We simply cannot afford to continue this trend. Fortunately, a growing number of states are read more
Last week, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon wrote that “it’s a good time to talk about good habits,” specifically voting habits. He was addressing a bill before the Minnesota legislature that would allow 16- and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote. Simon noted that almost half of states already allow some form of preregistration for read more
While there are already candidates officially running for office in 2016, this year’s elections should not be overlooked. In 2015, 558 cities will hold mayoral elections. Although national elections get the majority of news coverage, “It’s often these local governments that determine policy issues about policing, education, transportation, infrastructure, all of these things that more read more
Thank you to everyone who was able to attend last Thursday’s webinar, Being Nonpartisan: Guidelines for 501(c)(3) Nonprofits. We would like to offer special thanks to our featured presenter, our own George Pillsbury, founder and senior consultant at Nonprofit VOTE. Please feel free to download the webinar PowerPoint presentation, download an audio recording of the read more
Interested in voter engagement but not sure what the rules are? We’ve got you covered. Join us next week for: Being Nonpartisan: Voter Engagement for 501(c)(3) Nonprofits Thursday, April 16th at 2:00pm Eastern Learn about IRS guidelines for 501(c)(3) organizations on staying nonpartisan when engaging your clients, staff, and constituents around voting and elections. The read more
Since America Goes to the Polls 2014 was released, numerous news articles and editorials have covered a range of the report’s findings. On a national level, a great deal of attention has been given to the fact that 2014 turnout (36.6%) was the lowest its been since World War II (USA Today). But because turnout read more
Last week’s webinar, America Goes to the Polls 2014: Voter Turnout in the 2014 Midterm Election, is now available. Many thanks to University of Florida Professor Michael McDonald (and director of the US Elections Project) and George Pillsbury of Nonprofit VOTE for presenting. Watch the presentation on YouTube. If you subscribe to our channel, you’ll read more
In his address in Selma earlier this month, President Obama asked, “What is our excuse today for not voting? How do we so casually discard the right for which so many fought? How do we so fully give away our power, our voice, in shaping America’s future?” Despite the passage of the Voting Rights Act, read more
Nonprofit VOTE is pleased to release America Goes to the Polls 2014, the latest edition in our series of biennial reports on voter turnout. America Goes to the Polls 2014 uses official election data to rank voter turnout in the 50 states and looks at major factors underlying voter participation in this historically low turnout read more
Last year, Colorado held its first general election since passing a 2013 law that required the state to mail ballots to all registered voters. Although ballots were sent out, voters were not required to vote by mail. In-person voting was still permitted on or before Election Day at Voter Service and Polling Centers. In addition read more
