By Michael Weekes, President of the Providers' Council. Reprinted from The Provider
, the newspaper of the Providers' Council, Summer 2013 issue.
Nonprofit VOTE, the
nation's leading nonpartisan
source focused
on engaging
nonprofits in registering voters
and promoting voting
through mission-focused activities,
has released a seminal
report on voting rates for
those connected with nonprofits.
The essential question
asked also serves as the title
of the report:
Can Nonprofits
Increase Voting Among Their
Clients, Constituents and
Staff? Based on empirical
analysis of service providers
in several states by Tufts
University's Center for Information
& Research on Civic
Learning and Engagement
(CIRCLE), the report concludes
the answer is a resounding "Yes."
For those of us who are
connected with CareVote,
the Providers' Council's
decade-long effort to encourage
voting among its human
service provider network, it
was gratifying news affirming
our beliefs and assumptions.
The Council, in full disclosure,
is represented on
the board of Nonprofit VOTE
and shares its belief that
nonprofits have earned a
well-deserved reputation as
trusted resources for many
in our nation. As indicated
by national data, nonprofits
play a role in hundreds of
millions of lives – employing
more than 13.7 million people,
with another 62.7 million
serving as volunteers
and of course the multi-millions
receiving services.
The report's research
was conducted in relationship
to the 2012 national
election when close to 100
nonprofit service providers
in seven states, as well as
one national partner, agreed
to engage with Nonprofit
VOTE in its Track the Vote
project.
In tracking the voting behavior
of 33,741 individuals
who registered to vote
and/or pledged to vote via
outreach from these service
providers, this select group
from Arizona, Louisiana,
Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, North Carolina
and Ohio – plus the National
Association of Community
Health Centers – helped to
answer important questions.
Overall, the data clearly
shows the effect of having
contact with a nonprofit
about voting on increasing
the likelihood that individuals
will actually vote.
Equally important in a
sector that is stretched for
resources, it shows the essential
elements that help
nonprofit service providers
integrate voter participation
in their work. The qualitative
and quantitative analysis
framed response to queries
related to the audience
reached; capacity of service
providers to engage; impact
of those contacted by nonprofits
to vote; what tactics
and strategies have efficacy;
and what factors contribute
to success for service
providers.
Among the significant
findings were:
- Clients, constituents
and staff were "markedly
more diverse, lower income
and younger than all registered
voters in the seven
states, made up of populations
with a history of lower
voter turnout in past elections";
- Nonprofit-contacted
voters were nearly twice as
likely to be younger voters
(under age 30), more than
three times more likely to be
Latino or black and four
times more likely to have incomes
under $25,000;
- The turnout rate among
nonprofit-influenced voters
was at 74 percent – 6 points
higher than the rate for all
registered voters, including
18 percent higher from
Latino and Asian voters, 8
percent higher among
whites and 7 percent higher
among blacks;
- Nonprofit intervention
had the "…biggest impact
among turnout of the least likely
voters…"
Still, there remains more
work to be done, including
drilling down to the specific
interventions that appeared
to have the greatest impact
on increasing voter participation,
as well as determining
if the changes are
sustained during the next
election cycle and the level of
resources that are needed to
be effective.
But the report provides
the first answers to the fundamental
question of can
nonprofits make a difference
in voter turnout based on
personal contact with millions
of Americans.
The report summary
notes, "The populations
reached by nonprofit
providers were disproportionately
younger, lower income
and diverse by race
and ethnicity – with a past
history of lower voter participation."
Which means, according
to Nonprofit VOTE founder
George Pillsbury, "When
nonprofits talk to the people
we serve about voting, they
listen and turn out to vote.
It means more election impact
and a louder voice for
our issues and our communities."
We agree with his assessment
and hope this work
will help us expand the role
of nonprofits in advancing
democracy in this nation. At
its core, is not that the
essence of a nonprofit organization's
mission-driven purpose?
