The Untold Story Of The 2008 Election: The Role And Impact Of 501(c)(3) Organizations

2008 was an unprecedented year in terms of civic participation, coverage and energy around the elections. But who was really responsible for the historic voter turnout?

The Untold Story of the 2008 Election: the Role and Impact of 501(c)(3) Organizations explores the findings of a new report which tell the story of the massive voter-registration and mobilization efforts of the 501(c)(3) civic engagement community. This unique report details the gains in voter registration among typically underserved populations, examines how new infrastructure and technological advances helped civic engagement groups succeed, and provides a series of recommendations for funders looking at the 2010 mid-term elections and beyond.

This report was prepared by M+R Strategic Services and made possible through support from Atlantic Philanthropies, the Bauman Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) and HKH Foundation.

Source:  M+R Strategic Services

The one- and four-page handouts below summarize the report and offer eight recommendations for funders investing in the 2010 midterm election, detail the four major factors that contribute to civic engagement success, and profile the accomplishments of a variety of c3 organizations who successfully increased voter turnout in the 2008 election.

Civic Engagement One-pager
CIvic Engagement Four-pager