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Voter participation has declined over the past 20 years across the nation, with little more than half of all eligible voters now voting in the presidential elections and less than 40 percent in off-year elections, ranking the U.S. 20th out of 21 established democracies in voter turnout rates. Too often those who sit out elections are the ones who would most benefit from fuller civic participation.
The Fund’s Civic Engagement program supports organizations that are dedicated to changing this dynamic. The Fund is particularly interested in groups that engage those constituencies that have been historically challenged in their efforts to exercise the democratic process or under-engaged relative to other constituencies, including minorities, people of low-income, and youth voters.
The Fund also supports efforts to defend and expand sound democratic structures and practices. Its focus on election integrity is intended to inhibit efforts to manipulate or suppress votes, ensuring that every voter is able to cast their vote and feel secure that it has been counted. In the future, the Fund’s interest in election integrity and administration will include an expanded focus on advancing a comprehensive election reform agenda that can further ensure the full functioning of America’s democracy.
The Fund will also continue to support the development of cross-issue collaborations from its diverse areas of interest, particularly at the state level, that build the capacity of advocates to work together to advance common policy and civic engagement agendas.
2007 Grants
Civic Engagement
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$65,000 |
| To research and develop a comprehensive set of legislative options to counteract abuses of federal executive privilege during the last six years. An effective law would define and limit executive privilege, clarify what communications it applies to and specify when Congress can supersede it. |
Civic Engagement Fund |
$100,000 |
| To train and support nonprofit organizations interested in participating in nonpartisan civic engagement and issue education work. |
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$25,000 |
| To increase the number of low-income and disenfranchised individuals registered to vote throughout the country by pressing states to fully implement the National Voter Registration Act. |
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$200,000 |
| To build an integrated, permanent progressive infrastructure comprised of research, new tools for common use, issue framing and message discipline, and policy and leadership development programs that are of sufficient scale and ability to influence policy outcomes in Maine. |
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$90,000 |
| To implement an organizing campaign that brings together key Maine nonprofit and community leaders to rebuild the power of progressive social change organizations in the state. The project will develop a jointly conceived and executed long-term plan, operations strategy, and fundraising approach that enable local, regional and national funders to invest in progressive social change in Maine. |
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$25,000 |
| To implement an organizing campaign that brings together key Maine nonprofit and community leaders to rebuild the power of progressive social change organizations in the state. The project will develop a jointly conceived and executed long-term plan, operations strategy, and fundraising approach that enable local, regional and national funders to invest in progressive social change in Maine. |
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$60,000 |
| To assist nonprofit organizations in select states in participating in nonpartisan civic engagement. |
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$100,000 |
| To conduct nonpartisan voter registration among under-represented constituencies. |
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$25,000 |
| To increase states' compliance with the National Voter Registration Act that calls for public assistance agencies to provide low-income or disabled citizens with voter registration forms and assistance completing the forms. |
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$25,000 |
| To provide support services, information resources, collaborative tools and a national voice for election reform groups in states across the country. |
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$50,000 |
| To use research-based methods of increasing the number of unmarried women and men who participate as voters. |
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$100,000 |
| To educate middle-income working people nationwide about progressive economic issues relevant to them, their legal rights, and methods of advocacy in order to improve their standard of living. |
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Defense of the Public Interest
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$70,000 |
| To investigate, describe and provide policy recommendations to remedy the problem of lack of accountability for private military contractors accused of abuse in detention, interrogation and security operations. |
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