The Nonprofit Voter Empowerment Project (NVEP), a nonpartisan pledge campaign created by Independent Sector and Nonprofit VOTE, has released a resource guide with tools that can be used by nonprofit organizations to help increase voter engagement among members of underrepresented communities. The guide highlights the importance of using an inclusive approach to address barriers to voting and explains why such an approach is essential when it comes to conducting outreach for voter engagement.
Nonprofits have unique positions in their communities, having usually established working relationships with community members by supporting them in a range of ways. By adopting an inclusive approach to voter engagement, nonprofits can build on these already-existing relationships in especially effective ways. The inclusive approach discussed in the guide involves considering different social identities – such as race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and class – as well as how these identities intersect.
The guide also identifies steps organizations should take in their voter engagement outreach strategies to ensure people from various disenfranchised groups can be reached. The guide includes several voting tools and resources that can be integrated into an organization’s voter engagement plan as well, including:
- voter identification tools.
- election accessibility tools.
- resources for returning citizens.
- resources to support migrant communities and communities of color.
- tools and resources to support young voters.
Check out all the tools and resources in the new Nonprofit Voter Empowerment Project guide here.