Meet the Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network

The majority of nonprofits at the NonProfit Center strive to improve life for the underserved, typically working with communities of color, immigrants, the elderly and those that are low-income. Within this demographic, studies reveal that voter turnout tends to be lower than for the general population.

The Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network (NVEN), a nonpartisan nonprofit initiative of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits with offices in St. Paul and Boston (whose chapter is located at the NonProfit Center), aims to reverse this trend.

Louisiana's Vermilion Parish 4-H Club, on their Vote November 4, 2008 float in the LA Cattle Festival parade. Credit: LAVotes

Front and center on its website NVEN tells nonprofits, “Your constituents have policy and political concerns – whether the direction of an issue or priorities of public budgets – that won’t be heard if they don’t vote.”

NVEN indicates that the majority of voters over the last 30 years have been higher income, older and more partisan. In order to increase voter participation among nonprofit constituents – whose needs are often the most urgent – NVEN partners with state programs, like MassVOTE, which focus on increasing voter participation.

Collaborating for Change

By partnering with local programs, NVEN is able to reach out to the nonprofit community in order to provide information and resources for them to incorporate voter participation and civic engagement programs into their own organizations.

“The role of nonprofits is to help constituents be part of the surrounding community, and voting is an important part of this… If you don’t have a voice in your community, you won’t have a voice in how resources are governed,” describes Rachel Adams, communications and development associate in NVEN’s Boston office.

In addition to MassVOTE, NVEN collaborates with voter engagement organizations in Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania. All of NVEN’s materials and resources are strictly nonpartisan since nonprofits must comply to nonpartisan guidelines in order to maintain their tax-exempt status.

Jumpstart Voting at Your Organization

To promote voter engagement programs at nonprofits, NVEN has produced materials such as bumper stickers to be distributed to clients and items like posters to be hung up at an organization’s office to raise awareness of the need to vote. 

In addition, NVEN provides a number of online resources offering step-by-step guides on ways to integrate voter engagement into the work nonprofits already do everyday. Vote November 4th tee shirts were so popular during last year’s presidential election, shares Adams, that NVEN distributed over 20,000.

CareVote, a group of children served by the nonprofit Square One in Western Massachusetts (Square One is a nonprofit member of the Massachusetts Council of Human Service Providers, one of NVEN's state partners)

"We folded [voter engagement] into the seam of what we do every day. The materials were great. We couldn't have afforded to print them up," states Jean Goldsberry of Pride, Inc., a nonprofit in Massachusetts, referring to the NVEN materials they used to engage their clients in the 2008 election.

Ongoing Engagement

Praising the Obama campaign for successfully mobilizing an unprecedented number of voters, especially youth and people of color, Adams notes that NVEN focuses on engaging people throughout the year in elections both on the national and local levels.

One simple way for direct service agencies to encourage their clients to vote involves adding a question about voter registration to standard intake forms. Since direct service organizations serve a high volume of clients each day, they could conceivably increase voter turnout among those who otherwise might not participate.

NVEN’s website includes basic voting information concerning polls, registration and upcoming elections for all 50 states. Additionally, the website features guides which cover legal issues, how to plan a nonpartisan candidate forum, and get out the vote strategies. In addition to these materials, NVEN provides trainings and webinars on topics such as Voter Registration at Your Agency and in the Community and Integrating Voter Participation –The Basics.

Implications of the 2010 Census for Your Organization

NVEN’s current efforts center on educating nonprofits about the significance of the 2010 Census which occurs next March. Initiated by the federal government every 10 years, the Census Bureau mails forms to residences across the country to gather statistical information on a household’s income, education, race, gender, and whether they own or rent a home.

The census’ impact is significant: The data is used as a basis for allocating federal funding for programs such as Medicaid, Head Start, food grants for Women, Infants and Children (WIC), public transportation and programs for the elderly, among others. According to one of NVEN’s fact sheets, a community could lose approximately $1.2 million over 10 years for every 100 people not counted in the census.

As a result of the census’ broad impact, NVEN is committed to informing nonprofits about the critical importance of their clients participating in the process. To provide accessible information, NVEN has launched Nonprofits Count!, which has fact sheets and a sample census questionnaire available. NVEN has also developed a tool kit for nonprofits specifically covering the census.

“The census is really important because it affects everyone,” explains Adams. “Not everyone can vote (for example if they’re not a citizen or in jail), but the census counts everyone, including the people most likely to be undercounted such as low-income, minorities and immigrants,” 

Finding Partners Close to Home

Fortunately, NVEN doesn’t have to look far for nonprofits with whom to engage in their civic programs. “There is good synergy [to have nonprofits] in one building since we all have similar missions to some extent,” says Adams, commenting on NVEN’s home at the NPC.

Visit NVEN for more information about integrating voter and civic engagement into your organization.