Election Day is coming up quickly on November 8th, and now is the time to start planning to make sure your organization – your clients, staff, board, volunteers, and donors are registered to vote, educated about voting, and ready to get out the vote on Election Day. While a lot of the media attention is focused on the presidential election, it’s important to remember that every seat in the Minnesota Legislature is up for election this year, and there are many local elections that will impact the work we do as housing and service providers. Nonprofits need their voices heard during this election, and you can help!
In Minnesota, we have some of the highest voter turnout in the nation, but it’s important to be intentional about reaching out to potential voters and making sure they have the tools they need to participate fully in their civic duty of voting. With a little bit of planning, you can build an awesome and effective voter engagement campaign. The Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless is here to help.
It’s important to remember that, as 501c3 nonprofit organizations, we’re committed to doing nonpartisan civic engagement work. That means we don’t advocate for specific candidates, but we do have the responsibility to make sure our constituents are registered, know when and where to vote, and have a plan to vote on Election Day. For many of our community members, voting might not be on the top of their minds – we can help make sure voting is a priority.
Here are some next steps you can take right now to make sure you and your organization have a great plan for voter engagement work.
First, make sure you are registered to vote. You can check your voter registration status here, and even register to vote online. To be eligible to vote, you must meet the following qualifications:
- A U.S. citizen
- At least 18 years old on Election Day
- A resident of Minnesota for 20 days
- Finished with all parts of any felony sentence
Second, you should make sure your organization has the resources it needs to register voters and do nonpartisan voter education work. The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office has a lot of voter outreach materials and other online resources to register your clients, so you can get moving on registering voters right away.
Next, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless is facilitating a Housing & Service Provider Voting 101 conference call on Thursday, September 1st at 3 PM. Here are the details:
WHAT: Housing and Service Provider Voting 101 Conference Call
WHEN: Thursday, September 1st, 3:00 to 4:00 PM
WHERE: On your phone. For the call in code, sign up here to get added to the email list.
On the conference call, we’ll walk through materials, learn about nonprofit voting, and make sure we’re ready to get out the vote in our communities. Join us for an informative and interesting conversation that’ll help you develop your plan and get ready to turn out voters.
Finally, the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless is providing its members with free nonprofit voting consulting. On a one-to-one basis, we’ll help you develop your plan, assist with voter registration, and make sure you have the resources you need to get your community ready to vote on Election Day. Interested in a free consultation? Contact Atom to get a meeting scheduled at atom@mnhomelesscoalition.org.
As advocates who work on housing and homelessness issues, we know how important it is that our clients and communities are fully engaged citizens. Voting is an important part of that process, and I’m excited to help you get ready for Election Day.
Atom Robinson
Director of Campaigns & Outreach
atom@mnhomelesscoalition.org or 651-645-7332