Nonprofits can significantly increase civic participation and reinvigorate democracy in America by simply registering people to vote. Some nonprofits are using local voter databases to cross-reference their membership lists in order to target their registration efforts more effectively. It can even help raise money for nonprofits: Working Assets has kicked off a campaign to register one million new voters by paying nonprofits for each new voter registered. Thanks to the National Voter Registration Act, known as the "motor voter" law, registering to vote is more convenient than ever before. A nonprofit can register members online or in the field with a national standard form (a few states are exempt). Registering citizens to vote is totally permissible under IRS rules for a 501(c)(3) organization, as long as voters are targeted in a neutral way. The best place for a nonprofit organization to start is with their members. Cross-referencing your membership lists with a voter database is a great way to find out which of your members are not yet registered. Voter databases, also known as voter files, are kept at local county election offices. Some states have statewide databases within the Secretary of State’s office or their Election Board. Most states also have a vendor who manages and sells the voter files for the state. Some of the large groups that do this are: Blaemire Associates, ABT Associates, Aristotle, Labels and Lists. An organization can ask their allies and friends to get involved in getting out the vote as well. This way the groups can share the costs of the voter files, and reach more people in their community. Another way to get people to register to vote is through your organization’s outreach activities or web site. Working Assets recently kicked-off a campaign to register one million voters. In order reach their goal, they are enlisting nonprofits to work with them. Working Assets will pay nonprofits for each voter registration form filled out either online or in the field. They have dedicated one percent of their total revenue to funding nonpartisan voter registration efforts, in addition to the one percent already dedicated to funding nonprofits. For more information on Working Assets’ campaign contact field organizer, Becky Bond, at bbond@workingassets.com, 415/369-2107 (online registrations) or Sarah Clusen Buecher, sbuecher@wafs.com, 415/369-2127 (field registrations). There was a time in our nation’s history when barriers limited citizen access to the voting booth. Today, after the hard work and sacrifice of many Americans and nonprofit organizations, all citizens are guaranteed the right to have their voices heard. These precious rights are only of value if citizens take time to exercise them. The nonprofit sector is in a unique position to activate our communities to exercise these rights by getting people registered to vote. These efforts can be incorporated into our day-to-day work and do not require significant additional resources. For more information on nonpartisan activities that 501(c)(3)’s can engage in see OMB Watch’s document on Legal Rules for Voter Education and GOTV by 501(c)(3) Groups.