The Nonprofit Policy Forum (NPF) hosted its first webinar on October 4th, featuring a timely discussion of nonprofit get-out-the-vote (GOTV) initiatives. The webinar included an excellent panel of researchers and nonprofit leaders who brought a wealth of knowledge and insights to the conversation.
The panel was anchored by Kelly LeRoux, Julie Langer, and Samantha Plotner, who discussed their article “Nonprofit Messaging and the 2020 Election: Findings from a Nonpartisan Get-Out-The-Vote (GOTV) Field Experiment,” which was recently published in NPF. They explained that the most important takeaway from the study was that nonprofit GOTV activities impacted voting patterns. When nonprofits engage in this work, they help remedy the participation gap and promote higher turnout among under-represented voters.
Brian Miller, from Nonprofit VOTE, then discussed additional research that complements the findings of LeRoux, Langer, and Plotner. He provided insights on the scale of nonprofits involved in nonpartisan voter engagement activities, explaining that roughly 1 in 5 nonprofits are doing this work. He ended by discussing how nonprofits can align GOTV activities with their mission. He shared links to the following reports that provide more information on these topics:
- “NONPROFIT POWER: Engaging Voters for a More Inclusive Democracy”
- “America’s Nonprofits Get Out the Vote”
Vivian Zhang, from the Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC), then rounded out the conversation by discussing the work she and her colleagues do to ensure Chinese American communities in Chicago have the tools and knowledge they need to be informed, engaged voters.
The Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise and NPF thank all the panelists for sharing their insights and providing a rich conversation that connected research and practice!
