History

State Voices represents the culmination of more than five years of work organizing nonprofit 501(c)(3) voter collaboratives across the country. In preparation for the November 2, 2004 election, over 50 national non-profit organizations gathered outside of Washington, D.C., in April 2003. Their purpose was to discuss avenues for cooperation on civic engagement activities in order to find ways for the non-profit community to engage more effectively in non-partisan voter registration and mobilization efforts. Out of this gathering a small steering committee was empowered to develop a formal coalition and comprehensive work plan for this effort. The coalition, National Voice, became fully operational in June 2003, with a network of nearly 100 groups, some 2,000 voter projects doing 501(c)3 election work, and a coordinated get-out-the-vote coalition of nine large national field-based organizations.
 
As November 2nd drew closer, National Voice continued to grow. By the end of the election, more than 1,000 nonpartisan groups from across the country – including community organizations, churches, artists and businesses – were part of the National Voice campaign. The campaign’s impact was indisputable: it coordinated the registration and turnout of over five million voters and was home to the enormously successful NOVEMBER 2 media messaging campaign.
 
Though National Voice officially closed on December 31, 2004 by mutual agreement of all of its partners, the coalition’s momentum and a few of its long-term projects still existed. The Center for Civic Participation (CCP) was incorporated to build upon this momentum and house these projects, including a national database of newly registered voters and support services for state-level cooperative groups that were beginning to form. CCP, based in Minneapolis, became a home for civic engagement philanthropists and foundations as well as a docking station for small projects serving specific constituency-based needs, all while continuing as an active partner in field-based coalition building.
 
CCP’s own growth coincided with the unprecedented organic growth of nonpartisan state civic and voter engagement networks. Between 2005 and 2007, networks in Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin took root and began to flourish, greatly increasing the demand for CCP’s support services. A high demand for shared templates, technology, fundraising, research and communication between these new networks led to the development of CCP’s State Voices initiative.
 
In early 2008, a gathering of donors and state leaders in Nevada helped solidify the current State Voices network, which the Michigan table – Michigan Voice – agreed to house and help lead. In September 2008, State Voices, the flagship initiative of the CCP, opened its office in the historic Dime Building in downtown Detroit. The Center for Civic Participation officially changed its name to State Voices in December 2008. To learn more about the organization’s activities, please see our About section.