Government relations for many nonprofits can be a challenge. Where do you start? And, how do you amplify your voice, especially during pivotal moments, like Alberta’s upcoming election on April 16th?
This is where nonprofits like CCVO (Calgary Chamber of Voluntary Organizations) step in. CCVO helps Alberta nonprofits make a difference in our sector by teaching and sharing their knowledge in policy and advocacy work.
Creating the Nonprofit Election Toolkit
This year, as part of their support for nonprofits, CCVO developed an election toolkit to help guide nonprofits in their preparation for the upcoming Alberta election.
“To generate interest in the election early on, we identified the major sections we wanted to have in the toolkit and compiled themed blog posts that went live a couple of times a month,” says Alexa Briggs, Manager, Policy & Research at CCVO. “Each blog post briefly foreshadowed the toolkit. We then rolled them up into one final document as an entire resource: The Alberta Nonprofit Election Toolkit.”
The toolkit highlights an election engagement strategy meant to help nonprofits engage with confidence in the election cycle. Part of this strategy involves a #nonprofitsvote campaign:
“One of the major political parties will form the provincial government and will have direct decision-making power over issues that impact all of us. If we use our collective voice to encourage #nonprofitsvote, we can make a difference” Alexa says.
Encouraging nonprofits to vote
In addition to the Election Advocacy Toolkit, CCVO developed and released a Vote Kit, specifically designed to provide tools to support #nonprofitsvote efforts. With this Vote Kit, organizations will be able to:
- Make a #nonprofitsvote plan with handy templates to help communicate in a nonpartisan way with staff, boards, volunteers, and clients.
- Get easy access to information on how and where to vote.
- Find information on issues important to the sector.
- Join the #nonprofitsvote campaign to show the strength, breadth, and importance of the sector by publicly committing to vote.
By providing these supports to fellow organizations, CCVO encourages all nonprofits in Alberta to engage their staff, volunteers, board members, and people they serve to participate in the 2019 Alberta provincial election.
“If we stay silent during an election campaign, we let other sectors drive the agenda, which can mean that we won’t see meaningful commitments from political parties on issues that matter to the nonprofit sector” says Alexa.
Use CCVO’s election and vote kits to stay informed about the platforms and positions of all major parties, and how they impact the nonprofit sector so that on April 16th your vote will be, as CCVO likes to say, “armed with knowledge”!
CCVO promotes and strengthens the nonprofit sector by developing and sharing resources and knowledge, building connections, leading collaborative work, and giving voice to critical issues affecting the sector.
Niabi Kapoor
Volunteer Alberta SCiP Intern