Project 2008
The 2000 Presidential Election strongly underscored both the importance of voting and the need to protect the utmost integrity of the electoral process. While the awareness of these issues has grown since then, major barriers to fair elections still exist for too many citizens.
The Mitchell Kapor Foundation gives general support grants to organizations that address the following:
- Voter Participation – Implementing nonpartisan strategies to improve voter education and registration.
- Election Protection – Ensuring that every eligible voter can vote, and that every ballot cast is counted.
While organizations can have projects that target the 2008 election year, their work should have a longer-lasting effect through engaging citizens or improving the democratic process on an ongoing basis.
We will accept Project 2008 grant proposals from organizations across the nation, particularly from areas with high concentrations of people of color at risk of disenfranchisement.
The IRS has strict guidelines for grants that support voter participation and registration. In order to remain in compliance with IRS regulations, we do not earmark grants for the purpose of voter registration activities; we provide general support grants to organizations whose activities include voter registration campaigns.
Similarly, we make general support grants to organizations whose activities include lobbying. Foundation-supported grants may not be earmarked to fund lobbying efforts as defined by the IRS.