This specialized training is aimed at the nonprofit, 501(c)(3) community.
The Wellstone Action Fund and its sister organization, Wellstone Action, combine to form a national center of training and leadership development for people involved in civic engagement work. Founded in January 2003, the Wellstone Action Fund's mission is to continue the legacy of Paul and Sheila Wellstone by providing training and education on a large scale to groups and individuals seeking practical skills in organizing, base building, and voter engagement. The Wellstone Action Fund is a 501(c)(3) entity that grants money to Wellstone Action for its work that is strictly educational in nature.
The Wellstone Action Fund's newest training program is our Voter Engagement School program, designed for the 501(c)(3) community. These specialized training build on the efforts of individuals and organizations in the non-profit arena to educate, engage, and mobilize voters across the country. Working in partnership with organizations interested in connecting their long-term voter engagement work with the issues their constituents care about, we bring our Voter Engagement Schools across the country, with plans to hold dozens of Schools in 2006 and beyond.
The Wellstone Action Fund is particularly interested in making trainings available to projects organizing in low-income communities, communities of color, and immigrant communities. This training is designed to be replicated in large numbers in 2006 for a relatively modest cost.
Our Voter Engagement School draws on our previous nonpartisan trainings and recent trainings done by the Wellstone Action Fund with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. The standard training is one and a half days and can accomodate up to 50 participants. The training are a mix of teaching and practice, and cover the following subjects:
- Communicating an effective message,
- Planning a voter mobilization effort,
- Voter registration, voter education and voter mobilization skills and strategies,
- Recruiting and working with volunteers,
- Using targeting information strategically,
- Managing and getting the most from your data,
- Integrating voter engagement work with community and issue organizing,
- Developing leaders while doing this work,
- Working with the media,
- Getting Out the Vote.
These trainings will be done in a local community with a host organization or coalition. The host group recruits the participants, and Wellstone Action Fund provides 2 to 3 trainers, curriculum and materials. The cost of each Voter Engagement School would include time and expenses of the training team, materials, meeting space and two meals for participants (dinner the first half day and lunch the second full day). An estimate of the total cost of one training is $5,000-$7,000. For more information about our Voter Engagement Schools, contact us at 651-645-3939.