Social Ch@nge

So, do you understand the electoral system yet? Thoroughly digested those platforms and polls? With both a Canadian and an American election on the go this autumn, there’s a lot of indigestible info out there. We’re going to show you some sites that will hopefully help you stay on top of it.

One of the things that has always interested me about the non-profits I worked for is that most of the people who work there are surprisingly unpolitical. They’re not sure of their local candidates, or the political history of their area, or how budgeting works at a municipal/provincial level. This should surprise you too: even if your non-profit isn’t specifically oriented at changing public policy, an election is a damn fine time to put some public pressure out there for your cause.

I am not suggesting you campaign for a candidate, or link to partisan sites, or any of those forbidden things that could compromise your non-profit status (for more scary details, see a stern message from American non-profit Idealist.org)

But. Nobody said your non-profit shouldn’t be asking questions. Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper, or open letters to your candidates. Post on your blog. Post on ours! This is not to say you should send around email forwards begging people to vote for certain candidates that your group has vetted, though some groups do. I’m saying that paying attention to current politics can help you leverage your non-profit’s goals, even if it’s something as easy as sending a board member to a public debate to ask about what the candidates are doing to support social change.

Here are two websites that might be useful for you to get to grips with the elections. You’ll notice their approach to not being partisan is to point out who to vote against, or to vote for if you were voting for a certain issue. Food for thought.

Vote for Environment - this Canadian strategic-voting generator suggests who in your riding has the best platform for action on climate change (and the best chance of winning). You can search by postal code, map or list.

Fivethirtyeight (that’s the number of votes in the American electoral college) is an American electoral projection website that aims for a non-partisan view of the polls, though the authors disclosed they’re personally supporting Obama. There is an overwhelming amount of info here, Google Analytics style, but it is fun to plow through because it’s so specific. I am waiting for the poll that tells me which kind of latte Democrats in Hoboken prefer. I’m sure the stat is on there - I just haven’t gotten to it yet.

Of course, you probably have your own website for getting to grips with either election. How is your non-profit staff making their minds up? And how are you taking advantage of the election to get your organization’s message out? Please post here or write us at editor@netfornonprofits.org.

If you’re a political candidate: we’d love to hear from you about which non-profits you’re supporting (because you DO support them), and what you think non-profits need to know about this election.