Charities can play an important role in getting-out-the-vote by registering their members and the community to vote. Because of their tax-exempt status, charities must be careful to not register people to vote in a partisan manner.

Nonpartisan Voter Registration Drives

It is crucial for charities to adhere to the standards listed below when registering people to vote. Violations could result in loss of IRS tax-exempt status.

• Message content must be limited to encouraging people to vote, and not promotion of a position on any issue;

• Target audience must be based on neutral criteria that reflect a group's underlying purpose or practical constraints. (Example: a farm group can encourage farmers to vote, but cannot focus its efforts on districts that historically vote for any particular political party.)

Getting Your Members Registered

A good place to start is with your members. You can cross reference your membership lists with a state issued voter registration database. Most states contract with companies to provide voter registration database software. Some large groups that do this are: Blaemire Associates and Aristotle

Cross-reference your membership list with a state issued voter registration database to ensure that 100% of your membership is registered to vote.

Once you have cross-referenced you membership list with a voter registration database, you can actively work to register those members who do not appear to be registered. Additionally, you can use your membership list to identify frequent voters or those who have voted in the last four elections. Frequent voters are most likely advocates and maybe willing to help your organization by donating to your cause or becoming a volunteer.

Making Registration Easy with Online Forms

Many organizations have started their get-out-the-vote campaign by simply adding a web sticker to their web site that enables visitors to register to vote. Large organizations and companies are helping groups to get people registered to vote via the web by giving them access to their online voter registration forms and providing them with a vibrant web sticker. Some companies are even offering organizations money for each voter they register. Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a great example of an organization that has been successful in getting out the vote. As of March 1, 2004, ACORN has registered nearly 150,000 citizens to vote.