Election 2008: Democracy in Action -- Projects by Nonprofits

• Candidate Forums
• Election Judges for Charity
• Engaging Young Adults
• Funding Voter Engagement
• Get Out the Vote
• Personnel Policies
• Policy Agendas
• Voter Education
• Voter Registration

Candidate Forums
Candidate forums and debates provide an opportunity to learn more about where candidates for public office stand on issues important to your community. The law permits 501(c)(3) and (c)(4) nonprofits to sponsor nonpartisan candidate forums with certain restrictions. Several organizations post information on their websites about where forums will take place, how to run a forum, and sample questions to ask candidates:

• The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ website provides election-related materials in English and Spanish including tips for conducting candidate forums (PDF) and questions to raise with candidates (PDF) as part of the Faithful Citizenship initiative.
• Voices for Children of Greater Cleveland holds a nonpartisan voter education forum every two years where voters meet local candidates at a reception followed by a forum where panelists ask the candidates about children's issues.
• Other sites have sample questions for candidates geared for specific groups, for example, The 18-To-30 Year Olds' Voter Issues Paper: Questions Every Candidate Should Answer to Win 20 Million Votes in 2004 (PDF),  outlines the concerns of young adults and provides sample questions to ask candidates.

Engaging Young Adults
A number of noteworthy projects are aimed at engaging young adults in the political process.

• Young Voter Strategies, a project of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University, provides data on the youth vote in 2004 and recommends strategies for mobilizing youth in upcoming elections.
• The 18-To-30 Year Olds' Voter Issues Paper: Questions Every Candidate Should Answer to Win 20 Million Votes in 2004 (PDF) outlines the concerns of young adults and provides sample questions to ask candidates.  The pamphlet is part of the "20 Million Loud" and Smackdown Your Vote! (TM) campaigns to get 20 million 18-to-30-year-olds to vote in the 2004 presidential election.  The campaigns were the joint effort of a coalition including 18to35, the New Voters Project, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Youth Vote Coalition, MTV's Choose or Lose, Rock The Vote, and others.
• 18to35 is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to engaging young adults in public policymaking. The group’s website provides background information and talking points on issues important to young adults such as health care, education, and jobs.

Funding Voter Engagement

• The Funders' Committee for Civic Participation and the Proteus Fund published the Voter Engagement Evaluation Project (VEEP) (PDF) report on the effectiveness of voter engagement projects in the 2004 election cycle. The report encourages funders to support nonpartisan civic/voter engagement not just every four years, but as "an ongoing and constant effort to ensure that our democracy is vital, effective and accountable."

Get Out the Vote

• The Minnesota Participation Project has assembled a Get Out the Vote Toolbox (PDF) with tips on how to conduct an effective nonpartisan get-out-the-vote drive, such as reminding people to vote and helping them get to the polls on Election Day.
• The California Votes Initiative (CVI), a project of the James Irvine Foundation, works to increase voter participation rates among infrequent voters, particularly in low-income and ethnic communities. The initiative will involve a variety of outreach approaches and the efforts of 10 nonprofit organizations.

Personnel Policies to Encourage Voter and Poll Worker Participation
One thing we as nonprofits can do to boost civic engagement is to make sure our own personnel policies encourage employee participation in the election process. For example, nonprofits can allow leave time for serving as election judges, working on an issue or candidate campaign, and voting.

• The National Council of Nonprofit Associations has a policy that encourages employees to participate as Election Day poll workers. NCNA will pay employees the difference between his or her salary and any amount paid by the government or any other source for serving as an Election Day worker at the polls on official election days. While performing their official nonpartisan duties at the polls, Election Day workers may not engage in political activity or campaign for or against any candidate or ballot measure. NCNA requires that employees provide proof of service for their time at the polls and get written approval 30 days before the election.
• Carnegie Corporation of New York also shared with us their Election Day policy: Every national presidential election year, Carnegie Corporation adds Election Day as a holiday in order to encourage employees to go to the polls. For off-year elections, staff can come in on a delayed basis, which is particularly helpful for those with long commutes in the New York City area.

Policy Agendas
Campaign periods are an ideal time for organizations to educate candidates about issues that are important to the organization and to possibly gain the candidates' commitment on those issues.

• In 2004, the National Council of Nonprofit Associations developed its Nonprofit Agenda: A Blueprint for Action, which urges elected officials and candidates to support public policies that strengthen the nonprofit sector.  The document provides policy recommendations for: nonprofit capacity building, advocacy rights, charitable giving, fiscal policy issues,  government grants and contracts, workforce issues, and accountability and oversight.  NCNA's document also demonstrates that the charitable nonprofit sector is an essential key partner with federal and state governments in providing vital services to society.

Voter Education

• Sojourners Election Resources -- The editors of Sojourners magazine have created resource materials to guide faith communities through steps they can take to be actively engaged during the election season. “Voting God’s Politics” includes an Issues Guide that identifies principles and policies for Christian voters to consider, an Action Guide including Ten Things You can Do Before the Election, a Discussion Guide including topics and questions for group discussion, and a Toolkit including sermon tips, IRS guidance, and biblical reflections.
  
• The Minnesota Participation Project provides a Voter Education Toolbox (PDF) with helpful guidance on how to conduct nonpartisan candidate events, candidate questionnaires and voter guides. MPP also offers training and planning assistance for nonprofits that want to get involved in voter education.
  
• The Every Child Matters Education Fund conducts “I’m Voting for Kids” voter registration and mobilization campaigns to make children a political priority in policy debates. The campaign highlights the millions of children still lacking basic health care, protection from child abuse and neglect, access to quality early care and education, and after-school programs. The group has a van that visits child care centers, after-school programs and health clinics to encourage voter registration of staff and parents, and distribute materials about the needs of children and voter registration at public events.
  
• In addition to registering to vote and voting, engaged citizens should also take advantage of televised debates to learn more about the candidates’ positions. The nonpartisan, nonprofit Commission on Presidential Debates offers instructions on hosting or participating in "DebateWatch," which brings people together as a community for televised debates and reaction. The site provides instructions and suggested discussion questions.
  
• Public Agenda Online provided an issue guide for the 2004 election campaign, First Choice—Know What You Want Before You Choose Who You Want, which examined some of the key issues of the year and challenged voters to think about those issues before they voted. Public Agenda researches public opinion and produces educational material on a wide range of issues including education, foreign policy, immigration, and religion with the dual purpose of increasing leaders’ understanding of the public's point of view and helping citizens know more about critical policy issues so they can make thoughtful, informed decisions.

Please share your own organization's activities or any resources, online or otherwise, that would help other nonprofits encourage voter participation and raise the visibility of issues important to them during this election season—email: publicpolicy@IndependentSector.org.

Last Updated: June 6, 2007