Election season gives nonprofits an important opportunity to strengthen civic participation and build relationships with the people seeking to represent their communities. As trusted community organizations, nonprofits can help educate candidates about the sector while also helping the people they serve participate in the electoral process.
Engage and Educate Candidates
Candidates may understand that nonprofits do important work without fully understanding the scale of that work, the challenges organizations face, or the important relationship between nonprofits and government in delivering services and strengthening communities. Election season is an opportunity to help fill that gap by showing candidates not only what nonprofits contribute, but also how public policy, funding, and government partnerships affect their ability to serve their communities.
Consider reaching out to candidates to introduce your organization, explain your mission and reach, and share the issues affecting your work and the people you serve. DANA’s 2026 Voter Engagement Guide encourages nonprofits to share policy ideas with candidates through email, in-person meetings, social media, and other outreach while engaging candidates consistently and on a nonpartisan basis. (To maintain nonpartisanship, make sure to invite each candidate for a particular office so everyone has equal opportunity to engage with your nonprofit.)
Meeting a candidate does not have to be complicated. Invite candidates to visit your organization or schedule a brief conversation. Use the meeting to:
- Explain who you serve, where you operate, and the role your organization plays in the community.
- Share a few of the challenges affecting your organization, workforce, or services.
- Provide the same factual information and opportunities to each candidate for the same office.
- Ask candidates how they would approach issues affecting nonprofits and the communities they serve.
For example, you might ask:
- What experience have you had working with nonprofit organizations?
- Nonprofits often partner or contract with government to provide essential services. How would you approach ensuring those partnerships are sustainable and effective?
- How would you involve nonprofits and the communities they serve when developing policies, budgets, and programs?
- What role do you see nonprofits playing in addressing challenges facing your district or community?
The goal is not simply to hear what candidates think. It is also an opportunity to make sure future policymakers understand your organization, your community, and the role of state government and its relationship with nonprofits.
For 501(c)(3) organizations, candidate engagement must remain nonpartisan. When a candidate is invited to participate in their capacity as a candidate, the IRS says organizations must provide equal opportunity to all candidates seeking the same office, avoid indicating support or opposition, and prohibit political fundraising.
If a candidate would benefit from additional information about Delaware’s nonprofit sector, encourage them to connect with our Policy Team.
Engage Your Community
Nonprofits can also play a vital role in helping people participate in elections. Organizations may conduct a wide range of nonpartisan activities, including voter registration, voter education, get-out-the-vote efforts, candidate forums, and candidate questionnaires. Our guide provides examples of each of these activities and ways organizations can incorporate them into their work. The IRS also recognizes nonpartisan voter education, registration, public forums, and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) activities as permissible for 501(c)(3) organizations.
That can be as simple as sharing registration deadlines and reliable voting information, reminding people to vote, helping community members find trusted election resources, or incorporating voter information into your existing communications and programs.
Nonprofits already have relationships with the people and communities they serve. That makes them well positioned to connect voting with the decisions that affect everyday life, from public services and funding to education, housing, health care, and transportation. Our 2026 Voter Engagement Guide highlights how nonprofits can build voter engagement into those existing community relationships rather than treating it as a separate activity.
The guide offers additional guidance and practical examples to help you choose activities that fit your organization, engage candidates and voters effectively, and keep your work nonpartisan throughout the election season.
