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Plan Ahead 2014: Building a Voter Engagement Timeline for Your Nonprofit

Plan Ahead 2014: Building a Voter Engagement Timeline for Your Nonprofit. Presented by. About us. Founded in 2005, Nonprofit VOTE partners with America's nonprofits to help the people they serve participate and vote.

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Plan Ahead 2014: Building a Voter Engagement Timeline for Your Nonprofit

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  1. Plan Ahead 2014:Building a Voter Engagement Timeline for Your Nonprofit Presented by

  2. About us Founded in 2005, Nonprofit VOTE partners with America's nonprofits to help the people they serve participate and vote. We are a leading source of nonpartisan training, materials and other resources for nonprofits doing voter engagement work. Find out more about our mission and partners on our site at www.nonprofitvote.org About Us

  3. Today’s presenter Lindsey Hodel National Field Director Nonprofit VOTE Who

  4. Why Nonprofits? • Our size and reach • Our social missions and the trust and respect we earn from our communities • Our dedicated staff • When we do this work, we are extremely effective! Why Voting

  5. opportunity 2014 • The entire House of Representatives, 33 Senators and 36 Governors will be on ballots across the country! • Forty-seven ballot questions are certified for spots on nineteen statewide ballots in 2014 already! • Engaging the Rising American Electorate Oppor- tunity 2014

  6. New Checklist!

  7. Making a Plan

  8. Jan – Feb: Staff lead and buy-in • Designate a Staff Lead: Choose a staff lead, someone who will be the point person for your voter engagement work. • Establish Buy-In: Get buy-in from your Executive Director and senior staff.

  9. Jan – Feb: Learn the voting rules • Learn about voting in your state • Nonprofit VOTE’s Voting in Your State Tool: www.nonprofitvote.org/voting-in-your-state/ • Fair Elections Legal Network’s Voter Registration Guides: www.fairelectionsnetwork.com/resources • Review nonpartisan guidelines

  10. March – July: Set Goals • Set ambitious but achievable goals • How many of your staff will be involved? • How many volunteers? • How many voter registrations will you aim for? • What other election activities to do?

  11. March – July: Activities & events • Programs and Points of Contact: What are your ongoing programs or points of contact with your audience - at your agency, at events, or in your neighborhood? • Services or classes to target • Special programs or events: A graduation ceremony, a community festival, a citizenship ceremony, etc.

  12. March – July: Staff and Training • Identify staff and volunteers who will be involved • Get riled up! Provide a rationale for the work • Initial training: Make sure they have the skills they need. • Ongoing training and support: Periodically review with staff what they need to know, provide materials and resources

  13. March – July: partnering • Find a training partner like an advocacy partner or non-partisan group doing voter registration • Meet with your local election office • Consider opportunities: Around ballot measures, candidate forums or get out the vote activities

  14. Voter registration

  15. Aug – Sept: Starting voter reg • When: Start in July or August. Ramp up your activities as you near the deadline • Conduct a pilot of your registration efforts • Keep in mind: • Some are already registered • Updating an address or name is just as important as registering for the first time

  16. Aug – Sept: Kickoff and publicity • Plan a kickoff event • Publicize your registration efforts!

  17. Know Your deadline

  18. National Voter Registration Day • September 23rd is National Voter Registration Day! • www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org/ • www.celebratenvrd.org

  19. Voter Education and get out the vote

  20. Oct: Voter education • What’s on the ballot: Sample ballots and voter guides • How to vote: Pass out voter tips on how to vote or get help voting Voter Education

  21. Oct: Ballot measures • Do Voter Education Only: Provide nonpartisan voter education on ballot measures • Make an Endorsement: Take a position for or against a ballot measure Ballot Measures

  22. Oct: Getting Out the vote • Create visibility: Make the election visible at your agency and in your communications • Promote Early Voting: Encourage people to vote early by mail or in person • Promote Election Day voting: Contact constituents about voting on Election Day GOTV

  23. Election day • Make Election Day a special, celebratory day! • Reminders to vote in the last few days are effective • Time off for staff Election Day

  24. Post-Election • Promote: If results were good or activities successful, let your audience know what you did to get out the vote • Debrief & Evaluate: Review what you did to inform your future election work Post- Election

  25. resources • Factsheets, Guides, Toolkits and more available at www.nonprofitvote.org Resources

  26. resources Resources

  27. info@nonprofitvote.org 617.357.VOTE (8683) www.nonprofitvote.org Nonprofit VOTE 89 South Street Suite 203 Boston, MA 02111 Lindsey Hodel lindsey@nonprofitvote.org Julian Johannesen julian@nonprofitvote.org

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