State Voices networks or tables are permanent, year-round hubs for 501(c)(3) organizations. Tables foster multi-issue collaborative policy work, economies of scale, rigorous evaluation, and efforts to engage socially responsible and historically underrepresented communities in our democracy – in and out of election years.
Measures of Success
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Our Issues
By doing effective policy and communications work year-round in the states, 501(c)(3) organizations can create the conditions for candidates and elections to focus on the issues that matter to us all. State tables:
- Foster non-traditional partnerships that cut across issue silos
- Provide the hardware, software, and support necessary to conduct state of the art advocacy, translating electoral tools to year-round policy work
- Connect groups to state Progress Now affiliates and other media resources to help groups better utilize traditional and new media to spotlight issues
- Piloted regular benchmark polls to measure the growth of a socially responsible issue environment.
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Our Vote
State Voices provides state-based 501(c)(3) groups access to the tools they need to continually engage and educate voters.
- Because of the tools they access at the tables, organizations will carry out more effective and strategic voter participation programs during the state legislative and gubernatorial elections that will affect redistricting.
- By continuing to use voter files year-round for their issue work, 501(c)(3) organizations at the state tables will be maintaining, updating and enhancing data to the benefit of future electoral work.
- In partnership with the tables, organizations worked with social scientists to design and carry out experimental evaluations of their voter participation techniques in 2008. The results of those experiments will impact the design of 2009-2010 programs.
- Outside election season, state tables engage in modeling projects to identify socially responsible voters on the voter file, finding individuals outside the organizations' base who share the same values.
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Our Leaders
By strengthening the development of local leaders in the states, tables help increase the number, quality and diversity of volunteers, campaign staff, nonprofit leaders and candidates.
- Tables identify and train both experienced and new leaders. Six tables provided access to joint leadership training in 2008, with an additional three planning to do so in 2009.
- Of the 545 groups at the 16 tables, the greatest percentage are led by or serve communities of color and low income communities (26%).
- State Voices will be piloting a program in 2009 for the tables to provide expert, tailored organizational and professional development training to its member groups at affordable rates.
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Our Economies of Scale
State Voices' tables create economies of scale by acting as hubs for tools and services that would be much more expensive for groups to purchase individually.
- State Voices' 16 state tables saved organizations approximately $500,000 per state, or $8 million nationally, in 2007-2008 by providing access to Catalist voter files, VAN databases, and ISSI technical services and through bulk purchasing of equipment, polling and other services.
- We will continue to provide access to Catalist and VAN services in 2009 to our tables and are raising the funds now to continue ISSI services as well.
- State Voices will be piloting a program in 2009 for the tables to provide expert, tailored organizational and professional development training to its member groups at affordable rates.
- Through its monthly summary of program and unmet needs in the states, State Voices serves as an information clearinghouse about state work, providing clear and quantifiable data to donors.
Since 2004 there has been organic and unprecedented growth in nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) state tables. State Voices’ 16 state tables connect 545 local, state and national affiliate organizations with the tools, training and resources they need to carry out more effective civic engagement.
