New Poll: Large Majorities of Americans Want Nonprofits to Facilitate Civic Engagement
Advocacy is a core activity of high-impact nonprofits because it enables organizations to proactively shape their policy environments and strengthen their communities. One essential component of effective advocacy is information, including data on public opinion. As such, Independent Sector regularly commissions public polling.
Our polling is designed to illuminate how Americans think about nonprofit organizations and the issues and policies affecting nonprofits and the communities they serve. In Independent Sector’s most recent polling (conducted by Tunnl) in April 2026, Americans expressed strong support for nonprofit organizations facilitating civic engagement through activities like registering voters and educating communities about voting rights.
See more findings from the polling below, learn about a new initiative to strengthen nonpartisan nonprofit voter engagement, and browse our social media toolkit to share facts with your network.
Key Insights
- Register to vote. 8 in 10 Americans (80%) agree that nonprofit organizations should have a role in helping people in their communities register to vote, with 48% expressing strong agreement.
- Election dates and polling locations. 81% of Americans agree that nonprofit organizations should have a role in helping people in their communities find information about elections dates and polling locations – including at least 82% of Democrats and Republicans.
- Ride to the polls. 7 in 10 Americans (70%) agree that nonprofit organizations should have a role in helping people in their communities get a ride to the polls – including at least 71% of Black, Hispanic, and Asian Americans.
- Learn about issues. 85% of Americans agree that nonprofit organizations should have a role in helping people in their communities learn about issues impacting their communities, with 48% expressing strong support.
- Learn about candidates’ positions. 8 in 10 Americans (80%) agree that nonprofit organizations should have a role in helping people in their communities learn about candidates’ positions on issues impacting their communities – including at least 81% of Democrats and Republicans.
- Understand their rights. 84% of Americans agree that nonprofit organizations should have a role in helping people in their communities understand their rights as voters, with 50% expressing strong support.
- Sample ballots and voting machines. Over 8 in 10 (81%) of Americans agree that nonprofit organizations should have a role in helping people in their communities understand sample ballots and how to use voting machines – including 83% of Democrats and Republicans.
- Nonprofits play an essential role. More than twice as many Americans say their community would be negatively impacted (43%) rather than positively impacted (20%) if nonprofits were no longer allowed to help people register to vote.
Share the Findings
Let your community know that Americans express strong support for nonprofit organizations facilitating civic engagement.
This survey was conducted by Tunnl using online data collection methods to collect a sample of 3,017 U.S. adults. Fieldwork was conducted between April 22, 2026 and April 27, 2026. The sample was stratified by sex, age, and race/ethnicity to ensure representativeness, and responses were weighted to align with key demographic benchmarks, including sex, age, race/ethnicity, region, voter registration, party ID, and vote history. The margin of error for the full sample is ±1.78 percentage points.
