Engaging New Voters: The Impact of Nonprofit Voter Outreach on Client and Community Turnout
Nonprofit service providers can help increase voter turnout, especially among groups whose turnout rates tend to be low, including people of color, the young, and the poor, a report from NonprofitVOTE finds. The report, Engaging New Voters: The Impact of Nonprofit Voter Outreach on Client and Community Turnout (36 pages, PDF), found that turnout rates among nearly twenty-nine thousand people who registered or pledged to vote in the 2014 midterm election at community health centers, family service agencies, and community development groups were significantly higher than those for other registered voters in those states. For example, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latinos between the ages of 18 and 29 who registered or pledged with nonprofits were 64 percent, 98 percent, and 37 percent more likely to vote than those who were not engaged by nonprofits, while those with annual incomes of less than $25,000 were 31 percent more likely to vote. Conducted in collaboration with CIRCLE at Tufts University, the study also found that more than half the voters engaged by nonprofits belonged to groups identified by campaigns as "low propensity" voters who were unlikely to vote. According to the report, the most commonly cited success factor in increasing voter turnout was a motivated staff who understood the connection between voter engagement and their organization's mission.
