During the 2012 elections, nonprofit organizations were able to narrow gaps in voter turnout based on age, race/ethnicity, and household income, a report from Nonprofit VOTE finds.

According to the report, Can Nonprofits Increase Voting Among Their Clients, Constituents, and Staff? An Evaluation of the Track the Vote Program (44 pages, PDF), the turnout rate among potential voters contacted by nonprofits was 74 percent, six points above the turnout rate for all registered voters. And those contacted by nonprofits voted at a higher rate despite being more diverse, younger, and poorer — demographic factors traditionally associated with lower turnout — than the average registered voter.

Conducted with funding and other support from the Ford, Cedar Tree, and Open Society foundations and Public Interest Projects, the study found that nonprofits were especially effective in increasing turnout among groups that have long been underrepresented in the electoral process. Based on data from ninety-four nonprofit service providers in seven states that tracked clients who registered or signed a pledge to vote, the report found turnout rates 18 percentage points higher for Latino voters who were contacted by nonprofits compared with all other Latino voters (72 percent vs. 54 percent), 15 points higher for voters under age 30 (68 percent vs. 53 percent), and 15 points higher for voters with household incomes under $25,000 (68 percent vs. 53 percent).

"Political participation is highly unequal in the United States, and efforts to engage the lowest-income Americans are scattered," said Peter Levine, executive director of CIRCLE (Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement). "One highly promising strategy is to integrate voter registration and outreach into the activities of nonprofits that serve the poorest Americans. The new report from Nonprofit VOTE shows that this approach worked in 2012 and should be strengthened for 2014 and beyond."