Thousands of Partners Support National Voter Registration Day

It’s time to get out the vote. Over 3,000 national and community partners across the country will participate in National Voter Registration Day on Tuesday, September 26. This event aims to register as many voters as possible before November state elections.

“As the ‘Earth Day’ of democracy—National Voter Registration Day is an annual opportunity for Americans of all backgrounds and political affiliations to come together and ensure that everyone gets the chance to exercise their right to vote,” say National Voter Registration Day organizers in a news release  (opens in a new tab).

Every year, millions of Americans show up to a polling place only to be turned away because of issues with voter registration. The organizers behind this effort hope to solve this common problem. This year, the initiative is re-energized with new partners like the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA), Facebook ,and BET Networks.

“Military and veteran families are a vital part of every community in America. While their service is national, their family needs are local,” said retired Air Force Col. Mike Turner, the executive director of MOAA’s Military Family Initiative. “Voting in every election is the surest way their voices will be heard.”

Other major partners for this initiative  (opens in a new tab) include associations like Nonprofit VOTE, Alliance for Youth Organizing, Arab American Institute, and United Way. For-profit corporations like Twitter, Tumblr, and WeWork are also participating in the day.

Clean Up Your Data

Keep your organization’s data clean. Here’s how > > > https://t.co/flnrX6owqD  (opens in a new tab) via @abila_inc  (opens in a new tab) #AssnChat  (opens in a new tab) @AMCInstitute  (opens in a new tab) #CommunityBrands  (opens in a new tab) pic.twitter.com/b7jXs3NBnj  (opens in a new tab)

— YourMembership (@yourmembership) September 25, 2017  (opens in a new tab)

You can’t pull valuable insights from bad data. It may not be your organization’s top priority, but keeping your data clean is a key to success for meeting attendance, fundraising events, and member communication and engagement.

The Abila blog shares a few ways  (opens in a new tab) to practice data hygiene. Start with setting clean data goals for your member communications. For example, “when sending out an email to your entire membership, set a realistic goal for percentage of hard bounces,” writes Allyson Chapa. Cleaning up your data will help you lower that bounce rate.

To keep up with your members changing addresses, use the National Change of Address database. “By regularly checking your database against the NCOA dataset, you’re able to mail more accurately and save resources by ensuring your communication ends up in the right hands,” writes Chapa.

Other Links of Note

Is it time to create a new membership offering? Smooth the Path provides a framework for answering this question  (opens in a new tab).

Traveling for business can be a real nuisance. NBC News shares several ways to make the process easier  (opens in a new tab).

Conventional wisdom isn’t always correct. The Bloomerang blog shares some common lies many nonprofits believe  (opens in a new tab).

(Kameleon007/iStock/Getty Images Plus)