Free, fair and representative elections are difficult to achieve under the best circumstances. As 2024 progresses, the good news is that one of the cornerstones of American democracy — the hundreds of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations devoted to an inclusive, multiracial democracy — are already hard at work.
They need resources — now.
Nonprofit organizations perform essential election work in our democracy. In communities around the country, organizations help recruit poll workers, organize nonpartisan voter registration drives, combat misinformation, support local election officials and work to ensure that the diversity of our electorate is represented in our election process.
Philanthropic support — whether from institutional foundations or individual donors — fuels the work of these nonprofits. Unfortunately, while a recent study found that support for democracy has increased by as much as 60% over the past few years, it still remains less than 1% of overall philanthropic giving. This means the groups helping our democracy run do not have all the funds they need.
Moreover, many donors do not realize that supporting democracy in an election year requires donations by the spring, not the summer or fall.
That’s the recurring plea philanthropy hears from 501(c)(3) grantee organizations after an election year. They were grateful for the support — but, they told us, “the money came too late.”
“Protecting access to the ballot is not an undertaking that can be built overnight each election cycle,” said Marylin Carpinteyro of Common Cause Education Fund. “Last-minute funds can certainly bolster rapid response and help address election crises in the moment. But they can also reinforce a boom-and-bust cycle that prevents organizations from building lasting capacity and sustaining key relationships.”
It’s the same story across the country. Early money is the key to helping grantees be as impactful and efficient as possible. It allows organizations to plan confidently, hire and train staff, develop better messaging and tactics, and lock in lower-cost rates for many expenses.
While November marks the culmination of our nation’s election cycle, the work of educating and engaging voters must begin much earlier. In most jurisdictions, that schedule has been moving up as more and more places provide more choices for voters through things like vote by mail and early voting.
For these reasons, over 100 philanthropic donors and advisors have signed on to the All by April Campaign to highlight the need for early support. We have pledged to make as many of our election-related grants by April as possible. We’re moving up disbursements of multi-year grants previously scheduled for later in the year and streamlining processes for grant approval and payment (especially for renewal grants).
We know this won’t solve all of the challenges facing our grantees — especially the boom-and-bust cycle of election-year giving — but we hope it is a start.
To be clear, All by April is not intended to discourage donors from addressing needs that are identified later in the cycle. But we strongly encourage our peers not to wait to fund the critical and urgent work that must be supported now.
American democracy is not, and never has been, perfect. But we believe it is worth defending. This year, an effective defense means committing funds now to support the nonprofit organizations that make our democracy function.
Let’s not wait until it’s too late.
Joe Goldman is president of Democracy Fund.
Laleh Ispahani is executive director of Open Society-U.S.
Deepak Bhargava is president of the JPB Foundation.
