For Community Resource Center of Colorado (CRC), civic engagement starts with a simple idea: the people closest to community challenges should have a voice in shaping the solutions.
Across Colorado, CRC works with nonprofits to help make sure that engagement is about more than just voting. In their own words, civic engagement “includes building awareness, fostering connections between communities and decision-makers, and supporting nonprofits to engage in advocacy and public dialogue.”
That approach has become increasingly important as Colorado’s civic landscape has changed. Over the past several decades, the state has expanded access to voter registration through policies like online registration, same-day registration, and automatic voter registration. As a result, CRC says the challenge has shifted. The question is often no longer whether someone is registered to vote, but whether they have the information, confidence, and motivation to participate in elections whose outcomes are felt at both the community and state levels.
At the same time, rising political polarization and growing fatigue around civic participation have made many people feel disconnected from the process altogether. For CRC,nonprofits are uniquely positioned to respond to that moment because they already have trusted relationships in their communities.
“We would emphasize that civic engagement is not separate from direct service work—it is a powerful tool to support it.”
CRC supports nonprofits across Colorado through workshops, coaching, and resources that help organizations integrate voter engagement into their everyday operations. Partnership with Nonprofit VOTE helped CRC expand and strengthen that work across its nonprofit network. Through shared resources, training models, and ongoing support, CRC has been able to help more organizations see civic engagement as part of their long-term community work rather than a separate initiative.
That can look like including election information in newsletters, linking to voter registration tools in emails, displaying materials in community spaces, or weaving civic participation into existing intake and service processes.
This work is especially visible through CRC’s role as a convener. Through initiatives like the Root Causes Network, the organization brings together nonprofits, advocacy organizations, and community groups that may not otherwise work closely together. Over time, they have seen organizations move beyond siloed approaches and networking as a sector, where strategies, resources, and community knowledge are shared in more intentional ways.
CRC also places a strong emphasis on reaching communities that are often excluded from civic processes. That includes prioritizing partnership with BIPOC-led organizations, advancing language justice efforts, and supporting rural nonprofits across the state. Their goal is not simply to increase participation, but to make civic engagement more inclusive, informed, and community-driven.
Over time, CRC says they have seen nonprofits grow more confident in engaging around voting, advocacy, and public decision-making. Many organizations that once viewed civic engagement as outside their scope are now beginning to integrate it into their year-round work.
For organizations that are still hesitant, CRC’s message is straightforward: the work does not have to start big. “Civic engagement can start small and remain fully nonpartisan, focusing on education, access, and participation.”
