Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration

HOW TO ENGAGE VOTERS AND STAY NONPARTISAN IN THE 2010 ELECTIONS

By Jeff Narabrook, public policy assistant
This article was reprinted with permission from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. www.mncn.org.

On November 2, 2010 Minnesota citizens will have the opportunity to elect candidates to the offices of governor, secretary of state, state auditor and attorney general, along with all 201 members of the state Senate and House, and several county and local offices.

The Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN) strongly encourages nonprofits to prepare and motivate the communities they serve to vote. But it’s important that organization stay nonpartisan in the process.

There is a wide variety of permissible nonpartisan 501(c)(3) election activities for nonprofits to take part in, from voter registration to voter education and voter mobilization activities. See below for an overview of activities.

Nonprofit civic engagement work is important, because nonprofits maintain relationships with a large populations of Minnesotans. However, important questions need to be answered regarding 501(c)(3) rules, the relevancy of voter outreach to the mission, and the nuts of bolts of how the work will get done.

The Minnesota Participation Project (MPP) is MCN’s civic engagement program designed to help nonprofits answer these questions, make a plan, and obtain some of the resources needed to make the work successful.

Mini-grants are available. This year, MPP will offer a candidate forum mini-grant program for nonprofits. Candidate forums are an important method for citizens to become better informed about their political representation and for helping nonprofits get their issues heard and addressed directly by candidates. Nonprofits can apply to receive a small mini-grant from MPP to be used for the expenses of hosting a candidate forum in the community in partnership with other local nonprofit organizations. In addition, MPP will provide training on how to conduct these forums along with technical assistance on the steps of planning along the way – from turnout techniques to media outreach.

Beyond the mini-grant program, MPP provides organizations with guides produced by the Nonprofit Voter Engagement Network that addresses nonprofit voter mobilization work, such as A Nonprofit’s Guide to Hosting a Candidate Forum and primer Nonprofits, Voting and Elections. As election day nears, posters, buttons and other related materials will be available for Minnesota nonprofits interested in civic engagement.

Ready to get involved?

For more information on how nonprofits can become involved in the upcoming elections contact Jeff Narabrook, MCN public policy assistant, at jeff@mncn.org or 651-757-3062. Sign up for Democracy Works!, an occasional email newsletter, at www.mncn.org .

DOS AND DONTS, POLITICALLY

Things nonprofits CAN do as a 501(c)(3) organization

• Conduct voter registration and nonpartisan get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts.

• Educate the public about the importance of voting. Activities cannot be biased for or against any candidate or party.

• Target areas in nonpartisan ways. For instance, nonprofits may target low-turnout areas, low-income populations, minority populations and students.

• Target registration and turnout efforts to the areas or people they serve.

• Educate the public on issues and encourage participation in the political process.

• Educate all candidates and political parties on the organization’s issues.

• Conduct or participate in a nonpartisan candidate forum. The forum must be open to all candidates, be run in a balanced way, and include a broad range of nonpartisan questions for the candidates.

• Make presentations on an organization’s issue to platform committees, campaign staff, candidates, media and the general public.

• Work on behalf of a ballot measure.

• Continue lobbying on issues.

• Rent or sell mailing lists to candidates at fair market value, if made available to all candidates.

Things nonprofits CAN NOT do as a 501(c)(3) organization

These restrictions in no way prohibit officers, members or employees from participating in a political campaign as private citizens.

• Endorse or oppose a candidate implicitly or explicitly.

• Contribute money, time or facilities to a candidate.

• Coordinate activities with a candidate.

• Restrict rental of mailing list and facilities to certain candidates.

• Set up, fund or manage a Political Action Committee (PAC), established under section 527 of the tax code mainly for electoral activity.

This article was reprinted with permission from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. www.mncn.org.