Some would argue that charitable 501(c)(3) organizations are the “sleeping giants” of the democratic process. These community organizations have credibility, trust, and access to potential voters who are often disengaged from the electoral process. As such, they can be the catalyst for a dramatic increase in voter participation through legal, permissible, nonpartisan voter mobilization activities-- voter registration, voter education, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV). 

Goals of the Minnesota Participation Project

• Facilitate cooperation between 501 (c)(3) groups active in voter mobilization at the city and state level, and national groups providing funding and doing mobilization work in Minnesota.
• Provide resources and technical assistance to groups already active in voter mobilization in Minnesota.
• Encourage new groups to get active in voter mobilization and provide them with the tools to execute effective voter mobilization programs.
• Build internal capacity to execute voter mobilization programs.

Participating Organizations

MPP is comprised of (c)(3) organizations that meet the following criteria:

1. Committed to engaging in nonpartisan voter mobilization activities, and
2. Committed to working in a cooperative manner

MPP seeks to continuously expand participation and include as many interested groups from as many different nonprofit sectors as possible.

Components of the MPP Program
MPP’s purpose is to support, encourage, and expand the capacity of nonprofit organizations to engage in voter mobilization efforts.

Rather than offering a single prescriptive method for getting involved in voter mobilization, MPP will seek to identify a variety of methods and strategies, offer a range of tools and support, and provide assistance that matches each organizations’ current capacity, whether that involves beginning to explore voter mobilization or bringing existing voter mobilization to the next level of effectiveness.

The support that MPP will provide includes:

Information Exchange

• Identifying and mapping existing voter mobilization efforts
• Connecting voter mobilizations efforts across nonprofit organizations and sectors and seeking to fill gaps in voter mobilization efforts
• Providing mechanisms for nonprofits to share ideas and methods for voter mobilization (such as a listserv, regular updates, and more)
• Communicating information about voter mobilization efforts across sectors of the nonprofit community

Education and Training

• Developing and distributing easy-to-understand materials and resources for beginning or expanding voter mobilization work, including information on what is legal and permissible for 501 (c)(3) organizations
• Launching a traveling training program utilizing teams of voter mobilization experts to educate groups across the state

Coaching

• Proactively working with groups new to voter mobilization work to help them get started
• Helping active voter mobilization projects expand or build to the next level of effectiveness
• Offering clinics that combine training with customized consulting from experts

Organizing

• Developing organizing toolboxes that contain templates and step-by-step guides for implementing various voter mobilization activities
• Organizing candidate forums across the state
• Expanding capacity for organizing support at critical times—leading up to GOTV activities

List Enhancement

• Encourage list enhancement by helping nonprofits to match their organization’s contact list with a voter file. List enhancement is an important step in building the capacity of the nonprofit sector to mobilize traditionally underrepresented populations in the political process.

GOTV Teams

• Deploying teams of GOTV experts to help organizations craft GOTV plans based on their existing resources and voter registration and education efforts
• Seeking to connect separate GOTV efforts when possible and sensible
• Share GOTV ideas from other areas of the state or from other nonprofit sectors
• Providing troubleshooting and coaching on implementation of GOTV plans