November’s midterm congressional elections may be among the most consequential in American history and could have more impact on nonprofits and the people they serve than any in recent memory.
Control of the House and Senate is at stake and maybe the fate of the Trump administration. The battle for every seriously contested seat will be hard-fought, and the question for nonprofit leaders is this: Will they sit on the sidelines as they usually do, or will they take advantage of their formidable assets to make a difference?
One basic and appropriate way for every nonprofit to get involved is to urge their supporters to vote. There is not a single issue that nonprofits care about — whether hunger and poverty or the arts or the environment or any other cause — that will not be affected by who is elected and which party controls the House and Senate.
However, you would not know this from the websites and communication of even the most sophisticated social-change organizations. Most offer heart-wrenching stories of need, fundraising appeals, statistics about impact, and flattering news clips. But virtually nothing about politics or the through line that runs from Election Day to the important aspirations an organization has set for itself.
Tax-exempt nonprofits cannot be partisan. Nor should they be. But there are many nonpartisan activities that ultimately make a difference in shaping public policy. The Internal Revenue Service explicitly permits charitable organizations to engage in get-out-the-vote activities as long as they are nonpartisan. This includes encouraging voting and sharing information on how to vote, such as how to find your polling place.
Many nonprofits have a wide network of donors, volunteers, and others who care deeply about their work. Imagine if they used their events, email lists, and social-media channels to educate their supporters about the link between voting and the issues they care about. Increased voter turnout by even a few percentage points could be decisive.
We Need Government
In 2016, about 52 percent of eligible voters turned out to cast a ballot for president. That means tens of millions of eligible voters stayed home. A recent special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District was decided by less than one percentage point. In Washington D.C.’s mayoral primary in June, voter turnout in Ward 8, one of D.C.’s poorest and most troubled neighborhoods, which is served by many social-service nonprofits, was only 8 percent. As Montana Governor Steve Bullock said recently: “If millennials voted in the same proportion that seniors do, millennials would decide every election.”
One question I’ve always returned to over my 30-year career at nonprofits has been: How can we do our work more powerfully?
There are things nonprofits can do better than government. We can innovate, take risks, and be closer to the people we serve. But getting our good ideas to operate on the scale needed to make a difference usually requires public policy and government as a partner. Increasing the voter turnout that determines such policy is one of the most powerful ways to obtain a significant reach.
So why aren’t more nonprofits active in this manner?
For some, it may be lack of capacity. For others, a lack of understanding that certain activities are completely permissible. But much is due to a failure of imagination — the inability to lift one’s eyes up from business as usual to see the larger opportunity. Nonprofit leaders are among the most dedicated change agents I know. But we cannot fight for social justice with one hand tied behind our backs.
Share Our Strength, the organization I founded, has intentionally been building its advocacy muscle in recent years and has had some consequential victories at the state level, including increases in funding for nutrition programs and significant policy wins. But we know we need to do more.
We intend to reach out to donors, volunteers, and grantees to make sure they know that the efforts we’ve worked on so hard for so long — from protecting the vital nutritional assistance provided by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to increasing participation in school breakfast and summer meals — could succeed or fail based on the composition of the next Congress.
We won’t urge them to vote for specific candidates, but we will urge them to vote — and to support voter-turnout organizations like When We All Vote and Rock the Vote and the collaboration among Independent Sector, the Council on Foundations, and Nonprofit Vote.
Make It Matter
At a time when our democratic institutions seem especially fragile, nothing can revitalize them as powerfully as strong voter turnout. The coming election will be too important to the future of the United States to conduct business as usual.
There is nothing more nonpartisan, patriotic, or American than encouraging people to vote. Every nonprofit and civic organization should assume some responsibility for at least communicating with its donors, volunteers, and others who have a stake in their causes. The reach and influence nonprofits have are valuable assets. Not to deploy them on behalf of a stronger civic society is not only counterproductive but also civically and morally irresponsible.
Voting matters. This time and every time. By engaging in voter education, nonprofits can make it matter even more.
Billy Shore is founder and executive chairman of Share Our Strength.
