… 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
Last year, 45 local YWCAs in 38 states signed up as National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) partners. The YWCA was the second most represented national network, behind only the League of Women Voters. Beyond their strong NVRD participation, the YWCA mobilized 18 affiliates in 17 states who contacted 2,811 individuals about registering and voting in read more
Much has been written about turnout in this year’s election: it was the lowest in 72 years at 37%, but still typical for a midterm. Less known is that voters served by nonprofits–youth and voters of color–increased their share of the electorate compared to the 2010 midterm. This trend will continue in election cycles to read more
As of yesterday, more than 1,000 partners have signed on to host voter registration events across the country on National Voter Registration Day, which falls on Tuesday, September 23rd. National Voter Registration Day (NVRD) is the largest single-day effort of the year to register voters and involve them in the American political process. Now in read more
The 3rd annual National Voter Registration Day is September 23rd! Plan now to join in this national celebration of democracy. Sign on as a partner before July 31st and you’ll receive your organizer’s toolkit and NVRD posters in August. In its first two years, more than 1,000 groups and 10,000 volunteers registered over 360,000 people read more
One of Nonprofit VOTE’s newest partners, the National PTA, is already maximizing their work. The National PTA’s purpose is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children. To facilitate this, the PTA identified and cobranded the Nonprofit VOTE resources they found most useful for read more
Last week, Nonprofit VOTE was in Washington, DC at the winter conference of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) to present to their Voter Participation Committee on National Voter Registration Day (NVRD). Nonprofit VOTE’s Executive Director, George Pillsbury, and Voto Latino’s Partnership Director, Jessica Reeves talked to the Secretaries about the day’s success read more
Last week, National Voter Registration Day released their 2013 Field and Communications report. Despite 2013 being an off-year election cycle, the second annual NVRD had a presence in all 50 states and remained a popular event. Additionally, secretaries of state across the country embraced National Voter Registration Day in 2013. Last year: 931 partners and read more
Before 2013 comes to a close, we want to a take a brief moment to thank our partners, our supporters, and nonprofits across the country for supporting voting. 2013 was an exciting year for Nonprofit VOTE: We debuted brand-new research on the impact of nonprofit voter engagement, including both turnout data and case studies. The read more
A partner of Nonprofit VOTE, Girls Inc. is a national affiliate-based organization “inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold.” In 2012, 56 local Girls Inc. affiliates around the country participated in She Votes, enabling 4,424 girls to cast ballots in a mock election. Through She Votes, girls get hands-on experience with voting, and read more
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America‘s 2012 “Our Voice, Our Choice” campaign effectively combined many elements of the Nonprofit VOTE voter engagement model. 1. Commitment from the top. “Character and Citizenship” is one of BGCA’s six program foci, and the vice president responsible for this area was able to get institutional buy-in for voter read more
As the year comes to an end, we want to recognize the work of our many state and national partners, along with the local nonprofits who made an impact on voter turnout by registering and educating their communities. In 2012, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) had 175 members that conducted voter registration read more
Be prepared (and get excited!) about Election Day by joining Nonprofit VOTE for a special web event: Nonprofits Get Out the Vote! Countdown to Election DayThursday, October 11th at 2:00pm EasternThe final weeks leading up to an election are critical for voters, and during that time the potential to impact turnout is enormous. Learn more read more
In collaboration with the Heroes Vote Initiative, Nonprofit VOTE is pleased to announce that September 15, 2012 is National Military Voter Readiness Day. The goal of Military Voter Readiness Day is twofold: 1) to raise awareness of upcoming state deadlines for military members to register to vote and request an absentee ballot, and 2) to read more
OhioVOTES, a project of the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO), is hosting three voter engagement trainings in September. Ohio nonprofits are invited to either Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati to learn how to mobilize and motivate your staff, board, volunteers, and the people your organization serves. The trainings are free and will cover read more
The following appeared in the Summer 2012 issue of The Provider, the flagship publication of the Providers’ Council. Many nonprofits see voter outreach as something beyond the scope of the services they provide, leaving their clients to instead rely on the efforts of candidates and party campaigns. As a result, many potential voters receive no read more
One of our newest national partners, YouthBuild USA, is coordinating a 2012 National Voter Registration Campaign with the goal of registering 25,000 new voters in YouthBuild communities across the country. Incorporated in 1990, there are now 273 YouthBuild programs in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands. 110,000 YouthBuild students have built read more
As part of their Design for Democracy program, AIGA–the professional association for design–is hosting a get-out-the-vote poster contest! Their Get-Out-the-Vote campaign invites designers to create nonpartisan posters and videos that inspire the American public to participate in the electoral process and vote in the 2012 general election. The initiative enables designers to engage in the read more
The U.S. Vote Foundation (US Vote) is working to transform the complex domestic absentee voter process. Starting this month, US Vote will launch an online absentee ballot request process for all states. The site already features state-specific voter registration, election information, and a comprehensive election office directory. US Vote will help overcome the information and read more
It’s Election Day in California, where CalNonprofits’ Vote with Your Mission campaign is officially underway! Last month, we described their efforts to achieve 100% participation among California’s nonprofit staff and volunteers in the 2012 June and November elections. As of today, more than 100 nonprofits have already signed on! Organizations represent the diversity of California’s read more
She Votes 2010 participants in Santa Barbara, California. Photo Courtesy of Girls Inc. One of our national partners, Girls Inc., offers a variety of programs aimed to inspire girls to be strong, smart, and bold by equipping them to achieve academically, manage money, navigate media messages, lead healthy and physically active lives, and discover an read more
While nonprofits cannot support or oppose a candidate for office, there are a number of ways to engage candidates on a nonpartisan basis. Consider creating a candidate questionnaire: not only will it allow you to communicate with candidates, but it will also let your clients (and the public) know what the candidates think about a read more
Please join us in welcoming Kids Voting USA (KVUSA) to the Nonprofit VOTE network! Kids Voting USA is working to secure the future of our democracy by preparing young people to be educated, engaged citizens. They operate through a national network of community-based affiliates that partner with schools and elections officials to offer students in read more
Nonprofit VOTE is pleased to introduce one of our newest national partners, the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA)! CWLA is a powerful coalition of hundreds of private and public agencies serving vulnerable children and families since 1920. CWLA leads and engages its network to advance policies, best practices, and collaborative strategies that result in read more
Earlier this month, Susan Dreyfus, the president and CEO of the Alliance for Children and Families–one of Nonprofit VOTE’s national partners–blogged about the importance of voter engagement in the nonprofit community. With November speeding toward us, she urged the sector to consider how it will help ensure that all Americans can exercise their right to read more
This week, one of our partners, the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is launching Community Health Vote 2012–a national nonpartisan voter engagement campaign to establish voter engagement as an ongoing effort at as many health centers as possible. Marc Wetherhorn, NACHC’s National Advocacy Director, blogged: “Health centers are in a unique position to read more
We’re pleased to introduce our newest 2012 national partner, The Arc! The Arc is the largest national community-based organization advocating for and serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. As a leader in disability rights, The Arc boasts more than 140,000 members and more than 700 state and local chapters. The Arc’s read more
With March Madness gripping the nation, you might not have heard that in North Carolina March is also Nonprofit Voter Registration Month! Democracy North Carolina, one of our state partners, is working on a 2012 Nonprofit Voter Engagement Project to encourage and support nonprofits conducting voter outreach. Although this can take many forms–like distributing nonpartisan read more
Since 2010, Nonprofit VOTE has been an official voter participation partner of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS). NASS is the nation’s oldest nonpartisan professional organization for public officials and serves as a medium for the exchange of information between states and fosters cooperation in the development of public policy–including elections and voting read more
Many in Arizona’s nonprofit community are working diligently to register and educate voters with the goal of increasing voter turnout this November. This year, the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits is collaborating with several partners to offer tools and assistance to organizations interested in actively engaging their stakeholders. The next event–kicking off their voter registration phase–will read more
One of our newest national partners, the Coalition on Human Needs (CHN) is an alliance of national organizations working to promote public policies that address the needs of low-income and other vulnerable people. Like many nonprofits involved in advocacy and public policy work, CHN believes that voter engagement complements these efforts. The Coalition on Human read more
The National Council of Nonprofits (NCN) supports nonprofit voter engagement efforts and believes that all nonprofits “have a right and a duty to be part of the electoral process”–particularly this year. NCN seeks to advance the role, capacity, and voice of nonprofit organizations through state and national networks, which is one of the reasons NCN read more
We’d like to welcome two of our newest national partners, The National Community Tax Coalition (NCTC) and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), to the Nonprofit VOTE network.The National Community Tax Coalition and its 2,100 member organizations offer free tax preparation and financial services to low-income families. NCTC is the nation’s 4th largest provider read more
In honor of Thanksgiving, we wanted to share just a few of the many things Nonprofit VOTE is grateful for this year. We’re thankful for… Our amazing network of state and national partners and their commitment to expanding nonprofit voter engagement among their affiliates. Election Day Registration because it ensures that everyone who wants to read more
The New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits, in partnership with the National Council of Nonprofits, is once again sponsoring the 2012 Primary Project, a presidential candidate education initiative. The Project empowers members of the nonprofit and civic sector to engage candidates campaigning in New Hampshire, while also raising candidate and public awareness of the impact and read more
We’d like to welcome our newest partner, Lutheran Services in America, to the Nonprofit VOTE network. Lutheran Services in America and their 300 health and human services affiliates offer an array of services including health care, aging and disability support, community development, housing, and child and family strengthening. Every year, their work touches the lives read more
Over the last few months members of Nonprofit VOTE’s staff have been at conferences, trainings, and events across the country to spread the word about nonprofit voter engagement. In July, Lindsey Hodel was at the Kansas Conference on Poverty where she gave a keynote speech and led a workshop. She also presented at the National read more
October 28-30, 2008 Alliance National ConferenceExpand your peer connections with the best national network of nonprofit human services leaders at the annual premiere event of the Alliance for Children and Families. This year’s event will be held at the Sheraton Baltimore City Center in Baltimore, MD. From best practices to promising program and organizational innovations read more
