The Chronicle of Philanthropy: Money worries cloud voter mobilization efforts
The Voter Participation Center’s massive voter turnout campaign for the midterm elections almost didn’t happen.
“The funding did come, but it was late, very late,” said Tom Lopach, the nonprofit’s president.
With big plans but not enough money, Lopach and his staff tried in mid-August to decide what to cut. Should it be a digital get-out-the-vote campaign? A massive effort to get people to vote by mail? Or maybe a “social pressure” push that encourages people to join their peers in casting a ballot?
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Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of Americans for Public Trust, has drawn House members’ attention to an estimated $5 billion in foreign money that has come into the U.S. nonprofit sector over the past two decades to conduct advocacy, lobbying, or electoral activities. Some of that, she said, has found its way into partisan political action committees in apparent violation of IRS regulations.
Sutherland would like to ensure that nonprofit contributions stick to charitable, not political, tasks. But she worries that any new legislation policing such activity could infringe on freedom of speech. She’d prefer any new legislation to focus on foreign money.
“Nonprofits are supposed to enrich our communities,” she said. “They’re supposed to educate individuals, and honestly what better way to do so than voter participation.”
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The Hispanic Federation is also experiencing tougher times raising money for voter mobilization this year. With Election Day fast approaching, the organization still wants to gain access to 2 million Latino voters through town halls, canvassing, and mailers. To do so, it plans to spend $2 million, the same amount it did in 2024. But this year, the organization is dipping into its reserves because funders have not stepped in the same way they did two years ago, said Frankie Miranda, the federation’s president.
Said Miranda: “I think that there has been some fatigue because in previous election cycles they probably thought that they were going to have bigger outcomes when it comes to our community.”
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