Do's and Don'ts for Nonprofits in an Election Year

The low-income communities we work with deserve to have their urgent concerns addressed. The election season has started for many politicians, but important conversations are still underway about how to build a strong and competitive economy. We must continue to work together and our voices must be heard in order to ensure that we protect vulnerable people and create fair and responsible investments in our economic growth. The Half in Ten Campaign and the Alliance for Justice have provided these quick guides on how your organization can spend money and advocate during an election year.

      o    Permissible Election Activities Checklist
      o    Electing the 501(h) Expenditure Test
      o    What is Lobbying?

Need to Re-Compete?

The Meliora Partners, Inc. team of expert and highly successful grant writers can help you prepare a compelling Head Start re-competition application. Meliora Partners believes that the operation of Head Start by a community action agency is the best way for low income families to break the cycle of poverty. We want to help ensure that your organization will continue that partnership. For information on how Meliora can make you a competitive Head Start applicant, please contact Magi York at  641.691.0119

Ranking our State's Opportunity

Opportunity Nation (ON) is a national campaign to promote opportunity, social mobility, and access to the American Dream. ON includes a broad coalition of 200 businesses, non-profits, educational institutions, and military organizations. Using measures such as jobs, wages, affordable housing, dimensions of education, access to health care, civic engagement, safety, and others, ON has ranked the 50 states and DC on their respective “Opportunity Index.” To see the Ol list and learn more about the Index, visit www.opportunityindex.org.

The Impact of Jobs on the State of the Economy

The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) examines the dimensions of the labor market in this briefing paper about workforce, lost wages, income and wealth disparity, as well as higher rates of poverty. Read the report HERE. 

Accessing School Meals in Your Area

The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) provides tools to reduce childhood hunger and food insecurity by explaining how you can utilize funding for afterschool meals in your schools. Download the FRAC Afterschool Meal Guide HERE.

New Research & Resources on Voter Engagement

CIRCLE has released a new study on youth civic engagement that dispels many conventional myths about the ways in which young people are involved in the U.S. political system. Download “Understanding a Diverse Generation: Youth Civic Engagement in the United States, 2008-2010" HERE.

NCoC released a brief on civic health and unemployment, detailing the connections between a community's civic engagement rates and its ability to weather the economic downturn. Among other things, it found that an increase of one percent in the voter registration rate was associated with a decrease of about one tenth of one point in unemployment. Download that brief HERE.

Understanding SNAP in the midst of the "Food Stamp" Debate

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities has released a comprehensive white paper on the SNAP program. SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. In 2011, it helped almost 45 million low-income Americans to afford a nutritionally adequate diet in a typical month. Read the entire report HERE.