Minnesota's nonprofits have worked hard to build trusting relationships with the communities they serve, and that includes communities where many people are not engaged in the electoral process. The Minnesota Participation Project is showing nonprofits that not only can they register, educate and mobilize potential voters (and how to do it legally!), but also that the trust and credibility they have with their communities can convert potential voters to active democratic participants.

The Minnesota Participation Project (MPP) has been underway since 2003. Its primary purpose to support, encourage, and expand the capacity of nonprofit organizations to engage in nonpartisan voter mobilization efforts. A project of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, the MPP began its work in 2003 with two goals: first, help nonprofits to increase voter turnout and second, build the capacity of Minnesota nonprofits to sustain voter engagement. To achieve these goals, they developed a range of programs that interested nonprofits can use, including voter registration drives, voter education events such as candidate forums, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts on election day.

Since the MPP wants to enable nonprofits of all sizes, capacities and sub-sectors to participate in nonpartisan voter mobilization, they realized that a range of tools and strategies would be needed. For nonprofits that had never done any voter mobilization, thinking that it was illegal or unrelated to their mission, just learning that they could get involved as long as their efforts were nonpartisan was an important step. The MPP developed plain language guides, such as the Election Cycle Dos and Don'ts for 501(c)(3)s, to provide guidance on what nonprofits must do to ensure that their voter mobilization efforts meet legal requirements.

Recognizing that nonprofits may prefer to focus on one particular voter mobilization effort at a time, the MPP created toolboxes for Voter Education, Voter Registration, and Get Out The Vote. These guides provide specific information, tactics, and how-to's for each of these topics. (The Toolboxes are in PDF format to facilitate downloads.)

The MPP also developed the Voter-Reg-in-a-Box, a simple kit that nonprofits can use to start a voter registration drive inside their front doors. The kit is contained in a snazzy box to keep it all organized and includes voter registration applications, a guide for voters (available in English, Hmong, Somali and Spanish), and an eye-catching pen holder. Participating nonprofits throughout Minnesota are able to order the kit from the MPP website. MPP also created "GOTV in a Box" kits to help nonprofits get started with get-out-the-vote efforts.

The MPP achieved some impressive successes during the 2004 election cycle, including:

• Turnout: In precincts targeted by MPP turnout increased between 33n percent and 59 percent over 2002.
• Nonprofit Participation: 306 nonprofit organizations representing widely diverse communities and constituencies participated in MPP.
• Election Day Contacts: MPP made 29,065 contacts with voters on Election Day, with 21,218 of them occurring through door-to-door canvassing by volunteers.
• Total Volunteers: 2,988 total people volunteered or participated in at least one activity.

Following the 2004 successes, MPP studied the lessons they had learned. Their efforts had paid off, but they had required extensive planning, staffing and persistence. MPP decided that if the nonprofit impact on electoral work in Minnesota was to be sustained, it was time to re-energize their efforts to build the capacity of nonprofits to carry the movement. In addition to updating and improving the organizing tools that MPP had developed, they would expand their training efforts, target traditionally underrepresented communities and expand the diversity of the nonprofits participating in MPP.

According to Bridgette Rongitsch, Civic Engagement Organizer with MPP, one of the key capacity building strategies has been their Train the Trainer programs. MPP developed training for community nonprofit leaders and volunteers so they can provide voter mobilization training in their communities. One target for this work has been voter registration and education for new American citizens, especially in the large Somali and Hmong communities. In these communities, many people lack experience with the electoral process, but they know and trust the nonprofit leaders and volunteers that are already serving their community. MPP invites these nonprofit leaders and volunteers to complete the Train the Trainer sessions and they in turn organize voter mobilization training sessions of their own in the communities they serve. Not only are these trainers providing valuable voter education and registration services to their constituents, but the relationships they already have within these communities allow them to deliver effective customized training that is appropriate for the audience and that can reach a broader segment of their target precincts. "You have to go to where the people are," says Rongitsch, and that is the work of the MPP trainers.

Rongitsch also emphasized the diversity of nonprofits participating in MPP, and reminds us that even nonprofits that do not think of themselves as policy-oriented can find voter mobilization an effective way to serve constituents and improve lives. The Minnesota Participation Project has developed a substantial website with additional resources, news and updates for nonprofits engaged in voter mobilization which they invite anyone to visit at www.mncn.org/mpp.

Technorati tags: NPAction, nonprofit, voter registration, advocacy