Last month, the Philanthropy for Voter Engagement initiative was featured in the nonprofit research collaborative Candid. in an an op-ed written by Nonprofit VOTE Executive Director Brian Miller and United Philanthropy Forum Senior Dirtier of Public Policy Matthew L. Evans. While you can read the entire piece on Candid. by following this link, the op-ed is reprinted in its entirety below.
With the 2024 elections fast approaching, once again, we’re seeing disparities in who votes and who doesn’t. These gaps distort our democratic process and the policy debates that flow from it. To address these challenges, many philanthropic and nonprofit organizations are embracing their nonpartisan role in the voter engagement space to help build a more inclusive democracy where all voices are heard. The Philanthropy for Voter Engagement initiative, developed by Nonprofit VOTE in partnership with United Philanthropy Forum, the Council on Foundations, and Independent Sector, highlights how foundations can effectively support such efforts.
How nonprofit outreach helps address the cycle of disengagement
Every year, millions of Americans who care deeply about their communities are written off as “unlikely voters” and left out of the democratic process. Focused on short-term election outcomes, campaigns and political institutions largely ignore these “unlikely” voters—who are disproportionately young, low-income, and people of color—fueling a cycle of disengagement.
Unlike campaigns, nonprofits doing nonpartisan voter engagement are driven by a fundamentally different goal: to ensure the members of the communities they work in and with have a say in the policies that impact their lives, regardless of voting history. And the data shows it’s effective. Nonprofit VOTE’s analysis of 2022 midterm voter datafound that people engaged by nonprofits were 10 percentage points more likely to vote than comparable voters who were not (56% vs. 46%). For key underrepresented groups, the turnout boost was even higher. Nonprofit voter engagement was associated with double-digit increases in turnout rates among younger voters, low-income voters, and people of color, including among Black voters (55% vs. 42%) and Asian American voters (47% vs. 35%).
How philanthropy can support nonpartisan voter engagement efforts
Yet most nonprofits aren’t doing nonpartisan voter engagement. A 2023 Independent Sector report indicates that just 13.8% of nonprofits reported engaging communities around voting and elections in the previous five years. Survey data from the Urban Institute found that nearly 20% of nonprofits conducted voter engagement “occasionally,” “frequently,” or “almost all the time” in 2020.
How can philanthropy better support nonprofits’ voter engagement efforts? While private foundations are limited when it comes to funding voter registration specifically, both public and private foundations can support broad-based voter engagement work done in a nonpartisan way. By funding and promoting nonpartisan voter engagement, philanthropy can ensure nonprofits have the resources, skills, and confidence needed to mobilize their communities.
The Philanthropy for Voter Engagement toolkit includes legal guidelines and outlines best practices gleaned from interviews with over 30 foundations working in the space that represent a cross-section of the sector—big and small, community and private, urban and rural. Their strategies include running communications campaigns to inform communities about elections, training and convening nonprofit partners, providing voter engagement grants, investing in voting infrastructure, and funding research to inform strategy. The case studies provide models for integrating voter engagement into any foundation’s priorities, including health, housing, environment, and education.
For example, The California Community Foundation hosted trainings for its grantees as well as those of peer funders on topics like voter contact, volunteer recruitment, navigating voter data, and voter rights. Post-training surveys led to the creation of $5,000 to $25,000 grants, provided in partnership with two other foundations, to fill budget gaps. In Pennsylvania, the Jefferson Regional Foundation provided $1,000 mini-grants to 13 nonprofits for activities like voter registration events, canvassing, voter education, and Election Day transportation.
Flexible funding can strengthen nonprofit voter engagement
Foundations are also empowering nonprofits by aligning voter engagement with their core missions and strategies. The toolkit shares examples, such as how the Episcopal Health Foundation in Texas is including civic engagement in its strategic plan and how the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is prioritizing expanded representation of communities of color as part of its civic health strategy.
Many funders also emphasize multi-year grants and general operating support, giving nonprofits the flexibility they need to strengthen their voter engagement programs over the long haul. A recent initiative, All by April, led by the Democracy Fund and over 170 co-signers, rallied foundations to fund grassroots organization early—by April—so that nonprofits doing voter engagement could more effectively put that money to work.
The evidence is clear: When nonprofits have the philanthropic support to engage their communities, more Americans participate in the democratic process. That means more voices shaping the decisions that impact their lives. It means nonprofits are better able to achieve their missions and deliver real change. And it means an electorate that truly reflects our nation’s diversity.
