BLOG for ADVOCATES

We created this blog to share interesting advocacy related items that cross our desks. It can be anything from new research on funding for advocacy to examples of unusual advocacy strategies. If you have an item to share please send it to npaction@npaction.org.
NPAction Staff

Thursday, September 29, 2005

2004 Election Day Survey: Your Vote Does Count
According to the 2004 Election Day Survey sponsored by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, the voting "drop off rate" has decreased since past elections, where estimates have been available. "Drop off rates" are when votes are not counted because someone votes for too many candidates, or non at all. Some states have tried to reduce this problem, which is often caused by punch-card voting machines, by instead using computerized voting machines. Other important changes besides machines include increased education and supervision of the voting process.

As one of the largest surveys of election administration conducted by the federal goverment, it includes information about voter registration and turnout, voting equipment and locations, and other information about the voting process.

Check out the EAC survey for more information.

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Person-to-Person Philanthropy
Like shoppers scouting for their favorite collectible on the Internet auction site, donors can search for particular philanthropic proposals that resonate with them. New online websites are opening the Internet's potential to change charitable giving the way it already has transformed everything from just-in-time manufacturing orders to long-distance poker games.

Donors can read about and finance a water purification system for an Indonesian village, pay for a field trip for high school students in their hometown or help a neighbor in the aftermath of Katrina. They can also can pick and choose what they are spending their dollars are and for those with little to spend, they still know that their contribution is making an impact.

Click here to read more.

Six Habits of Highly Effective Boards
Want to help improve your board? Some quick tips include:

Make sure your board focuses its time on the mission, vision and core values of the organization.
Members should show up for meetings.
Board members should trust the work of the staff.
Members should contribute to organizational funding.
It is important to have a thoughtful and deliberate board nomination and recruitment process.
An effective nonprofit board should focus on governing the corporation, not on managing it.

Click here to read more.

Training for Nonprofit Board Members
The Capital Region Board Leadership Forum, created by the Community Foundation for the Capital Region and the Council of Community Services of New York State Inc, will provide training to the presidents and chairpersons on the boards of directors of charitable not-for-profit organizations. The first session will begin on October 17 and will train board leaders how to operate within the bounds of government regulations, and will feature input from experts in the field. Space will be limited to 75 attendees.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

NAS Releases Report on Electronic Voting
The National Academies of Sciences released a report on electronic voting today, "Asking the Right Questions About Electronic Voting." According to their report, in order to begin reliable e-voting, more funding, research, and public education must occur.

To help election officials gauge the robustness of an e-voting system, the authoring committee posed a series of questions on matters such as computer security and voter privacy, system usability, and the life cycle of software and availability of upgrades. The answers should be made widely and easily available to officials and the public, who will need them to make sound decisions about when and if to adopt e-voting.

Click here to read more.

Friday, September 09, 2005

Webinar Series for Nonprofit Board Governance
The Center for Nonprofit Management will present two webinars focusing on nonprofit board governance issues in September and November. The webinars are part of the Center's successful Board Leader program, an initiative to help nonprofit board leaders achieve "top of mind" awareness of best practices in nonprofit governance.

Click here to find out more information on each webinar.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

State agrees to give provisional ballot to voters without ID
Arizona officials agreed Wednesday to let voters without identification cast provisional ballots but not to count those ballots unless voters later produce identification.

Click here to read more.

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Chronicle of Philathropy Tracks Donations for Katrina
The Chronicle of Philanthropy is tracking donations for Hurricane Katrina and in the case of institutional donors, by whom.

See: http://philanthropy.com/free/update/2005/09/2005090501.htm

EAC Requests Proposals for Election Law Clearinghouse
The Election Assistance Commission has issued a request for proposals to research and build a "legal resources clearinghouse" covering election administration. This is being done pursuant to section 202 of the Help America Vote Act, which requires the EAC to serve as a national clearinghouse for information on the conduct of federal elections. The EAC's goal is to provide a central respository for information regarding the election laws of the states and territories. That includes constitutional, statutory, and regulatory provisions, as well as decisional law, on both HAVA and the National Voter Registration Act (aka, "Motor Voter"). The goal is to have all of this information available via the web --a one-stop shopping for election administration laws. It's a major undertaking, and obviously an important one. Proposals are due on September 13, 2005.