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This issue of Tools is not meant to scare or depress you. Rather, it's meant to shed light on an important, and yet poorly understood potential phase of an organization's life cycle—going out of business.
The information is excerpted from The Nonprofit Decline and Dissolution Report. This report summarizes a study done in 1986. | | Guides & Publications |
| | Charities are responsible for not only the contents of their websites, but the website’s links to political sites as well, an Internal Revenue Service official stated at a meeting of the American Bar Association. Links directing visitors to election advocacy sites or sites endorsing a candidate are being examined. “IRS did not take the easy route and simply ban 501(c)3 links to advocacy sites. Rather, it continues to rely on facts and circumstances to determine whether such links violate the strict prohibition against 501(c)3 interventions in political campaigns,” said Judith Kindell, senior technical advisor to the director of the IRS Exempt Organizations Division. Kindell also stated that the IRS would look at a charity’s policy for monitoring “bloggers” who endorse a candidate on its site. Source: BNA Daily Tax Report | | |
| Link | Ballot Initiative Strategy Center is the progressive “think-and-do tank” for ballot measure research and strategic campaign support. We are a resource for grassroots advocates seeking to pass issues of economic justice, environmental protection, expanded health care, quality public education, and much more. The only organization of its kind, BISC uses the initiative process as a tool for achieving progressive policy goals and building broad political power in the states. | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| pdf | AALDEF's multilingual exit polls reveal vital information about Asian American voting patterns that are often overlooked in mainstream voter surveys. AALDEF has conducted exit polls of Asian American voters in every major election since 1988. Nearly 11,000 Asian American voters in eight states and 3,000 in four states were surveyed in the 2004 and 2002 exit polls, respectively. | | Research & Polling |
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An analysis on Voter Fraud in the US by Demos, adapted and updated from Securing the Vote report, released in 2003, authored by Lorraine C. Minnite. | | Research & Polling |
| link | The Student PIRGs’ New Voters Project and Working Assets, in cooperation with researchers from the University of Michigan and Princeton University, recently released a study demonstrating the effectiveness of using text / SMS messages to mobile phones to mobilize young voters in the November 2006 elections. The study found that text message reminders to new voters increased an individual’s likelihood of voting by 4.2 percentage points. | | Research & Polling |
| | An Analysis of the 2006 Election |  | Research & Polling |
| link | Articles on '08 presidential candidates and technology. | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| link | Allison Fine (founder, Innovation Network, Inc.), a New York social entrepreneur, writes on the way new social media-the Internet, cell phones, digital tools-allow activists to create new groupings of self-directed and self-responsible progressives. She believes that in this new Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Digital Ageconnected era of the Internet, activist networks trump hierarchy, and she touches on how social media have already facilitated progressive actions. She points out the need for activists and progressive organizations to harness the new technologies while genuinely listening to those engaged in the new social media. She also ponders the future of activism in a connected age. This work contains some practical-and even inspiring-advice but is really a meditation on the interaction between technology and traditional activism. Most useful in academic and large public libraries.
-(Library Journal, November 15, 2006) | | Guides & Publications |
| pdf file | “Indecent Disclosure” discusses problems with obtaining meaningful data on independent expenditures from the various state disclosure agencies. | | Research & Polling |
| pdf file | "Independent Expenditures, 2006" looks at independent expenditures in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine and Washington. | | Research & Polling |
| link | The National Institute on Money in State Politics is a nonpartisan 501(c)3 tax-exempt charitable organization dedicated to accurate, comprehensive and unbiased documentation and research on campaign finance at the state level. The Institute develops searc | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| link | New York, NY – The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law and the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law released a new report today that suggests a majority of states have not adopted adequate security measures to ensure the integrity of election results tallied on electronic voting machines. | | Research & Polling |
| Link | A Project Vote web site dedicated to tracking election administration and election reform bills | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| Link | A Project Vote web site dedicated to tracking election administration and election reform bills | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| Link | A number of useful materials on 501 c (3) organizations and elections | | Organization Websites & Listservs; Guides & Publications |
| Link | Public Library of Voter and Election Resources | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| Link | Website providing latest news and research on state-level issues | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| Link | Listserve & Blog: At the intersection of politics and law | | Organization Websites & Listservs |
| PDF Link | Part of the Brennan Center's Voting Rights and Elections Series | | Guides & Publications; Research & Polling |
| Link | The 2006 midterm election does not signal a return to voter apathy as much as reflect an ailing electoral system, which requires reforms to increase the number competitive congressional seats to boost overall turnout. | | Research & Polling |
| Link | On the heels of the most successful youth voter mobilization efforts ever in a midterm election, the Student Public Interest Research Groups’ (PIRG) New Voters Project is releasing a new analysis of its 2004 efforts to boost youth turnout, and of the part | | Research & Polling |
| Link | The LNS is a major "national" telephone survey of 8600 Latino residents of the United States, seeking a broad understanding of the qualitative nature of Latino political and social life in America. | | Guides & Publications |
| Link | America Goes to the Polls is a comprehensive report on voter turnout in the 2006 elections. | | Research & Polling |
| PDF Link | A Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) Report 2007 | | Research & Polling |
| Link | Zogby/AAI Poll: Arab American Voters to Decide on 2008 Presidential Candidates by Stance on Iraq War | | Research & Polling |
| | Many philanthropists are concerned about low levels of voter participation and the impact on overall civic engagement. Yet, the laws and IRS regulations that guide this kind of grantmaking can be complex to a newcomer. This 'orange booklet' describes restrictions that apply to different types of voter engagement work and clarifies how private foundations and other funders can support ballot campaigns. While the message of the FCCP is that funders can and should support nonpartisan civic and voter engagement work, this publication should provide general guidance but not legal advice, and funders are encouraged to consult their own legal counsel about specific questions. | | FCCP-created Resources |
| | This report is a follow-up to the VEEP Report, focusing exclusively on how to effectively engage immigrant communities in the political process. The report discusses how immigrant groups that integrate voter engagement in their ongoing work not only enfranchise new American voters, but also strengthen efforts to address issues of concern to these communities, like employment, housing and health. The document presents case studies with best practices employed by a variety of groups and ends with a set of recommendations for funders. | | FCCP-created Resources |
| | This report presents critical findings from the 2004 election cycle regarding the effectiveness of 501(C)(3) voter engagement activity that the FCCP community of funders actively supported. The report synthesizes commissioned research and discussions between funders and field leaders at the VEEP Convening held in June 2005. The findings presented allow funders and nonprofit practitioners to avoid repeating mistakes, refine and replicate effective strategies, and target priority areas for additional experimentation and investment in future election cycles. | | FCCP-created Resources |
| Link | The Ruling includes specific examples and covers a range of activity, such as voter registration and GOTV activities, websites, certain types of business activity and political activity by individual leaders of 501(c)(3) organizations | | Guides & Publications |
| Link | A guide to 501 (c)(3) voter engagement work covering knotty legal issues with simplicity and clarity | | Guides & Publications |
| PDF Link | | | Guides & Publications |
| Link | Powerful tools for achieving your philanthropic mission | | Guides & Publications |
| link | This guide gives young people the tools they need to not just participate, but help transform the field itself. | | Guides & Publications |