6 ways your organization can transcend politics and help get out the vote

It’s campaign season in the U.S. which has launched many civic engagement efforts within organizations. Do we realize what people outside the U.S. would give for the opportunity to vote in the U.S.? Do we realize what people inside the U.S. would give for the opportunity to vote in the U.S.?

This privilege, and that is what it is, is that important, that urgent. The choice before U.S. voters will cause a ripple effect across the entire world.

In past elections, some organizations have stepped up to support civic engagement efforts by ensuring employees have a few hours off to go to the polls with permission from their managers. This year, more organizations are going further. The “Time to Vote” campaign, a nonpartisan movement begun by Patagonia, Levi Strauss and PayPal, now has 1,500+ companies joining and making public commitments to support employees having paid time to vote. Uber, Blue Apron, Twitter and Coca-Cola have election day as a company holiday or paid day off. ServiceNow is providing voting resources, information, accessibility to employees and having guest speakers. Plus, they gave two grants to non-partisan organizations, League of Women Voters Education Fund and Rock the Vote, and will match employee donations. They are reminding folks of their 20 hours of volunteer time when employees help people register or volunteer at a polling place.