With election season in high gear, now is a critical time to act on behalf of those who have the most at stake—our kids.
Elections are a unique opportunity to educate voters about what kids need and get commitments from candidates. By acting now, you’ll encourage candidates to “think kids”—and be able to hold leaders accountable for their campaign promises once elected.
As one of our country’s most accomplished child advocates Margaret Brodkin put it:
“By using elections strategically and cleverly, advocates can accomplish more, while expending fewer resources, than at any other time.”
Here’s a quick look at actions you can take between now and November 5 to ensure candidates prioritize young people.
Get Started
Use This Top 10 Ideas List: Check out the “actionable” ideas on Margaret Brodkin’s “Top 10 Ideas” list. They range from organizing meetings with candidates to urging voters to vote with kids in mind. There’s something everyone can do on this list.
Start with Something Quick & Easy: The first idea on the Top 10 list is an incredibly simple way to get voters and campaigns to think about kids amidst the noise of elections: Create your own or use this bumper sticker graphic that reads “I’m for kids and I vote.” These are nonpartisan, so you can distribute them through your place of worship, your child’s school, or your workplace. The Internet offers many places to make custom stickers and ship them quickly.
Empower Young People
Support Youth to Lead the Way: Imagine your community’s youth helping register their peers to vote, hosting a candidates’ forum, meeting with candidates one on one to share their priorities, and asking how candidates will represent them. Groups like Civic Influencers are showing this is very doable. Consider how you can support your local youth councils, clubs, or after-school enrichment programs to involve young people in election-related activities.
Register New Voters: Partner with one of the national organizations at work to register new voters. Rock the Vote and the Andrew Goodman Foundation focus on registering young people. Groups like When We All Vote and MomsRising Education Fund are registering people of all ages. Several groups like Focus for Democracy and Walk the Walk USA are working with trusted community organizations in targeted locations to register new voters and help them get out to vote.
Make It Easy for Candidates
Organize Candidate Forums: Check out how leaders for youth in New Hampshire organized a Gubernatorial Forum on the Well-Being of Kids, and get ideas for how you can host your own candidates’ forum. Organized by children’s advocates, philanthropy, college leaders, businesses, and children’s services providers, this event highlighted child hunger and early childhood education, among other child-focused issues.
Help Candidates Create & Publicize an Agenda for Kids: Urge candidates to commit to children, like MomsRising does through its Moms’ Seal of Approval on Child Care. Once candidates are elected, you are in a much stronger position to thank them for their leadership for kids and hold them accountable for their commitments. Check out the information and tools at Vote Kids 2024.
Educate Voters
Conduct VoteKids Public Education: Join forces with one of the national organizations or coalitions that are doing public education to place kids front and center this election season. They provide off-the-shelf materials and guidance on how best to use them. See, for example
Use New Messaging: New research suggests there are more effective ways to talk about kids’ needs in a way that resonates with the broader public. New framing builds on the public’s recognition that kids need various forms of “care”—including the care they receive from their parents, teachers, and doctors. The new framing stretches that concept to include “collective caregiving,” a shared responsibility for all kids encompassing all the policies affecting families—like transportation, food, and parks. For example, “One of the most important ways we can care for kids is to vote with kids in mind.”
Incorporate New Polling Results: New polling by Choose Children in California and Save the Children Action Network can also help you zero in on issues the public is most concerned about. For information on how young people see the political process as the election approaches, see UNICEF USA’s Harris poll. These polling results can help you refine your messaging when discussing priorities with and for young people.
Support Political Action
NOTE: Nonprofit organizations cannot engage in political action on behalf of a candidate. However, individuals can get involved by representing themselves during nonwork hours.
Leaders for kids across the country are recognizing that to complement vital public education about kids at election time, nothing speaks as loudly as money. There are several child-focused PACs or 501(c)(4) efforts you can support. Their Future PAC is supporting a candidate for president as well as nine congressional candidates who have a child-friendly record and are running in districts that are especially influential at the local, state, and federal levels. NextGenPac is supporting candidates who care about kids in seven states and nationally.
Don’t let this election season pass without reminding voters and candidates how much elections affect children. Any action you can take—big or small—adds strength to our collective voice and influence for kids.
With election season in high gear, now is a critical time to act on behalf of those who have the most at stake—our kids.
Elections are a unique opportunity to educate voters about what kids need and get commitments from candidates. By acting now, you’ll encourage candidates to “think kids”—and be able to hold leaders accountable for their campaign promises once elected.
As one of our country’s most accomplished child advocates Margaret Brodkin put it:
“By using elections strategically and cleverly, advocates can accomplish more, while expending fewer resources, than at any other time.”
Here’s a quick look at actions you can take between now and November 5 to ensure candidates prioritize young people.
Get Started
Use This Top 10 Ideas List: Check out the “actionable” ideas on Margaret Brodkin’s “Top 10 Ideas” list. They range from organizing meetings with candidates to urging voters to vote with kids in mind. There’s something everyone can do on this list.
Start with Something Quick & Easy: The first idea on the Top 10 list is an incredibly simple way to get voters and campaigns to think about kids amidst the noise of elections: Create your own or use this bumper sticker graphic that reads “I’m for kids and I vote.” These are nonpartisan, so you can distribute them through your place of worship, your child’s school, or your workplace. The Internet offers many places to make custom stickers and ship them quickly.
Empower Young People
Support Youth to Lead the Way: Imagine your community’s youth helping register their peers to vote, hosting a candidates’ forum, meeting with candidates one on one to share their priorities, and asking how candidates will represent them. Groups like Civic Influencers are showing this is very doable. Consider how you can support your local youth councils, clubs, or after-school enrichment programs to involve young people in election-related activities.
Register New Voters: Partner with one of the national organizations at work to register new voters. Rock the Vote and the Andrew Goodman Foundation focus on registering young people. Groups like When We All Vote and MomsRising Education Fund are registering people of all ages. Several groups like Focus for Democracy and Walk the Walk USA are working with trusted community organizations in targeted locations to register new voters and help them get out to vote.
Make It Easy for Candidates
Organize Candidate Forums: Check out how leaders for youth in New Hampshire organized a Gubernatorial Forum on the Well-Being of Kids, and get ideas for how you can host your own candidates’ forum. Organized by children’s advocates, philanthropy, college leaders, businesses, and children’s services providers, this event highlighted child hunger and early childhood education, among other child-focused issues.
Help Candidates Create & Publicize an Agenda for Kids: Urge candidates to commit to children, like MomsRising does through its Moms’ Seal of Approval on Child Care. Once candidates are elected, you are in a much stronger position to thank them for their leadership for kids and hold them accountable for their commitments. Check out the information and tools at Vote Kids 2024.
Educate Voters
Conduct VoteKids Public Education: Join forces with one of the national organizations or coalitions that are doing public education to place kids front and center this election season. They provide off-the-shelf materials and guidance on how best to use them. See, for example
Use New Messaging: New research suggests there are more effective ways to talk about kids’ needs in a way that resonates with the broader public. New framing builds on the public’s recognition that kids need various forms of “care”—including the care they receive from their parents, teachers, and doctors. The new framing stretches that concept to include “collective caregiving,” a shared responsibility for all kids encompassing all the policies affecting families—like transportation, food, and parks. For example, “One of the most important ways we can care for kids is to vote with kids in mind.”
Incorporate New Polling Results: New polling by Choose Children in California and Save the Children Action Network can also help you zero in on issues the public is most concerned about. For information on how young people see the political process as the election approaches, see UNICEF USA’s Harris poll. These polling results can help you refine your messaging when discussing priorities with and for young people.
Support Political Action
NOTE: Nonprofit organizations cannot engage in political action on behalf of a candidate. However, individuals can get involved by representing themselves during nonwork hours.
Leaders for kids across the country are recognizing that to complement vital public education about kids at election time, nothing speaks as loudly as money. There are several child-focused PACs or 501(c)(4) efforts you can support. Their Future PAC is supporting a candidate for president as well as nine congressional candidates who have a child-friendly record and are running in districts that are especially influential at the local, state, and federal levels. NextGenPac is supporting candidates who care about kids in seven states and nationally.
Don’t let this election season pass without reminding voters and candidates how much elections affect children. Any action you can take—big or small—adds strength to our collective voice and influence for kids.
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