Hello Members,
As a grassroots organization, the input of our members is one of VFP’s most important assets, and our annual elections create a critical opportunity for you to voice your opinions and preferences.
Unfortunately, we don't hear from as many of you as we would like during election time. Allow me to share with you important Veterans For Peace membership voting numbers for the national board, resolutions and by-laws over the past few years.
In 2014 we sent 3,352 ballots to 2,155 verified veterans and 1,188 non-verified veterans, associates and 9 international members. Voter participation was 738, or 22%.
I think 22% is a very low number and we need to do better. However, I know anecdotally from colleagues in other non-profits that we are not alone in struggling to engage members in organizational elections. I found information affirming this in the 2012 Votenet.com Index of Association and Non-Profit Voting and Election Trends:
http://www.votenet.com/whitepaper/2012-Index-of-Association-and-Non-Profit-Voting-and-Elections.pdf
Note these statistics from page 14 of the report:
- The average turnout for the most recent large voting event was 32%
- 24% turnout for associations using online ballots
- 30% for those using a combination of online and paper ballots
- 56% for those using only paper ballots
The report further reports:
The members of smaller organizations are more likely to be engaged and familiar with candidates. Associations with less than 500 eligible voters, about a fifth of our sample, had an average voter turnout of 60%, while those groups with between 500 and 10,000 voters (nearly two-thirds of our sample) had average turnouts ranging from 20% to 26%.
Where does VFP fall in all of the above? VFP does not neatly fit into any of the above categories. We use paper ballots for voting, but we also put supplementary information about resolutions and bylaws online. So, we have a hybrid of sorts. The paper ballot only group has a 56% turnout, but it appears that the bulk of that group falls into 500 or less members category, because their participation is 60% where as the 500 to 10,000 voters category was much lower at 20% to 26%. With over 3,000 members, Veterans For Peace falls into this category, which means our voter participation follows the national average for an organization of our size.
While we may meet the trend of voting behavior, 22% is nothing to brag about, so we have a lot of work to do to increase participation.
To give a slightly broader picture, let us look at 2012 and 2013. In 2012, VFP sent out 2,453 ballots. The number of ballots was substantially less because associate members did not vote at that time. The total vote count was 757 or 31%. This is much better. It is significant that the number of voters was actually higher. In 2013, VFP sent 3,805 ballots and received 806 ballots for 22% participation. This is a substantial drop in percentage of participation with little increase of voter numbers compared to the increase in eligible voters. Veteran participation fell by 156 with 601 vets voting, or 25%.
The 2014 veteran participation number was lower at 560, but the percentage of veterans voting stayed about the same at 26%. The trend of fewer veterans voting also reflects the downward trend of overall members.
The Votenet.com report explains that the greatest obstacle reported by associations to voter turnout is apathy. Perhaps a higher percentage of VFP members voted in 2012 because of more interest in one of the resolutions or a by-laws change.
The report also gives some ideas about how to increase turnout, like increased engagement in other activities of the organization.
I am concerned with this low trend for voting by our members. Veterans For Peace is a grassroots organization that must have bottom up input to stay true to membership values. The board is elected to provide guidance and direction to the organization, but to ensure VFP goes in the direction we need more member participation. I also believe as we address this problem it will help with retention and membership participation because will e more engaged and invested in the direction of the organization.
The national office will make a concerted effort to inform the membership of the September/October elections, and the board is reviewing voting procedures and how we can make sure we have an easily accessible voting process.
Thank you for your membership in Veterans For Peace. I welcome your feedback on ways that we can encourage more voter participation. In 2015, please vote to make sure your voice within our association of veterans is heard and followed.
Michael T. McPhearson
Veterans For Peace
Executive Director
mcphearson@veteransforpeace.org