Nonpartisan Social Change

Several years back I was working for a nonprofit that was heavily invested in legislative advocacy as a primary strategy to advance its mission.  For a variety of reasons this organization found much more support for its agenda on one side of the political aisle.  In an effort to recruit more grassroots advocates, we cross-referenced our donor list against a data file from the state which identified voter frequency and party preference.  It turned out that our donors were overwhelmingly members of the party that was less supportive of our legislative agenda. 

I was reminded of this recently while attending a diversity training for an organization I’ve been volunteering with for awhile.  As an ice breaker the facilitator asked everyone in the room for a show of hands regarding party affiliation, and the results were surprisingly mixed.  I say surprising because I think for a lot of people the same set of values and beliefs that lead them to vote a particular way also help them pick which charitable causes to support. 

The bottom line is that both of these organizations are working hard to solve serious problems, and their missions are broad enough to attract support from donors and volunteers across the political spectrum.  A lot has been written lately about young people opting out of participating in the political process and instead volunteering with nonprofits in their local communities where they feel they can have a more meaningful impact.  Politicians should take note that neither side has a monopoly on good ideas or caring, civic-minded people to implement them.