The world of electoral politics — and especially presidential politics in 2024 — can feel entirely removed from our daily realities, perhaps especially for those of us who meet the needs of our communities by working in, and with, nonprofit organizations.
In so many ways, it feels most comfortable, and safer, to block out the noise of presidential campaigns. However, blocking out that noise would come with a steep cost.
While 501(c)(3) nonprofits are, by design, prohibited from engaging in electoral politics, those same organizations, and the communities they serve, are deeply vested in the policy-making process. They are also dependent upon policymakers of all parties — from the president to a town council member — who will engage their constituencies, learn from them, and make informed policy decisions.
The Nonprofit Infrastructure Coalition (NIC), co-led by Independent Sector and KABOOM!, advocates for public policies that build healthy nonprofits, so that they, in turn, can build healthy, thriving communities. Part of being a healthy nonprofit sector means that we lean into the work of nonpartisan voter engagement — not telling voters “who” to vote for, but rather “what” the issues are and “how” different candidates would address them.
Every presidential election cycle in the U.S. is of great consequence. While we will leave it to you to decide whether this election feels like one of the most consequential in our history, we can agree that it matters — a lot. We have presidential candidates with dramatically different views of the state of the world and approaches to building a nation in which all people are thriving in a flourishing democracy.
Earlier this month, the Nonprofit Infrastructure Coalition (NIC) launched its 2024 Presidential Candidate Survey. We do this, not necessarily because we believe we will learn something we have never heard before (though we might), but because it is essential that nonprofits engage their elected officials to learn and to make clear what matters to us and to those we serve. When candidates respond to questionnaires like this one, it also can become a vehicle for building relationships with successful candidates once they come into office.
The NIC is a national coalition, and its work to build healthy nonprofits and healthy communities takes place largely at the federal level. As a result, this questionnaire focuses on candidates for U.S. President and issues that are relevant to that office. While we encourage every nonprofit to engage with candidates, it may be much more appropriate for your organization to focus on congressional, gubernatorial, state legislative, mayoral, or other local races.
The NIC candidate survey asks questions that have a basis for bipartisan support. It addresses issues such as charitable giving, volunteerism, strengthening the partnership between the federal government and the nonprofit sector, and strengthening the nonprofit workforce. The questionnaire also provides candidates an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which they have worked with, or been impacted by, nonprofits — and how those experiences might shape their decisions in office.
While we hope to receive responses by June 30 from all the candidates to whom the questionnaire was sent, we know that it may not turn out that way. Campaigns are flooded with such requests. Therefore, the work before us, as a nonpartisan coalition that does not endorse candidates, is to make sure that we engage all campaigns, with equal effort, to secure their responses. It is the right thing to do, and it is also the law. We will share those responses with the public as long as we receive the minimum number dictated by the rules.
We want to close on a note of realism. We have heard some voices, even within our coalition, that the stakes of this election make surveys like this feel unimportant. We disagree, not on the stakes of this or any election — but on the issue of engagement. One of the candidates we are engaging with this survey will be the next president. We cannot engage them with fundraisers or campaign events. Our job is to engage candidates in a very particular way, including through surveys like this, to inform both candidates and communities. That is what healthy nonprofits do.
So, that is what we aim to do with this survey, and what we will continue to do as a coalition. And we are always stronger in that work with you all alongside.
