TurnUp is a left-of-center youth voting initiative created in 2019 by Zev Shapiro, a Massachusetts Democratic youth activist. The organization is a self-described “super-power for social justice change-makers,” despite also claiming to be nonpartisan. ^{1 2}

Background

TurnOut Activism Inc., doing business as TurnUp Activism (commonly referred to as TurnUp), is a left-of-center youth-led voting initiative that targets young people to increase voter registration and turnout. The organization is a self-described “super-power for social justice change-makers,” despite also claiming to be nonpartisan. ^{3 4 5}

The organization developed the TurnUp application for mobile phones. The app enables users to find organized events by location or the user’s “interests in social justice”; scroll through a newsfeed of updates by left-of-center organizations; resources to assist in organizing protests; and notifications about election dates, deadlines, and voting laws. ⁶

TurnUp claims over 4,000 youth organizers and more than 20,000 “young” volunteers. It is partnered with hundreds of other organizations and receives money via “thousands of individual donors.” ⁷

TurnUp also claims to have organized “by far the largest youth-led youth voter registration and turnout operation in the 2020 election, the 2022 midterms, and the 2021 & 2022 Georgia runoff elections.” The organization claims that more young people voting “correlates to an increase in progressive victories,” and that the younger generation will soon “dominate the electorate” to then “define the scope” of its political priorities. ⁸

TurnUp focuses on “targeting the key swing states where youth can make the biggest impact,” including Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. ⁹

TurnUp claims to have “reached 36 million young voters nationally” with voting information, made 17,000 “connections between young activists through the TurnUp mobile app,” and “trained 1,600 young activists” in 2020. ¹⁰

People

Zev Shapiro is the founder and executive director of TurnUp. Shapiro spent much of his youth as an activist for Massachusetts Democratic Party politicians. ^{11 12} Shapiro was the leader of the Massachusetts High School Democrats for three years and spent one year as a liaison to the Democratic Party. He has been featured in multiple media outlets including the Boston Sunday Globe, the Boston Herald, and NPR. ¹³

Financials

TurnUp receives most of its revenue in the form of contributions and grants.

The organization received a total of $263,776 in contributions and grants in 2021. Its total expenses amounted to $315,047, $180,776 of which was spent on salaries and other compensation, and $134,271 was spent on “other” expenses. TurnUp reported assets of $681,175. ¹⁴

TurnUp received a substantial boost in funding in 2022 when it had a total revenue amount of around $2.2 million. All funding came in the form of contributions and grants, except for $2,100 which came from investment income. The organization’s total expenses amounted to just over $900,000 in 2022, of which $332,603 paid for salaries and other compensation, and of which $568,960 covered “other expenses.” ¹⁵

1. “Our Values.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/our-values.
2. “Voter Registration Fellowship.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/for-students-student-organizations.
3. “Our Values.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/our-values.
4. Suozzo, Andrea. “Turnout Activism Inc.” ProPublica. May 9, 2013. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833917641/202313199349323726/full.
5. “Voter Registration Fellowship.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/for-students-student-organizations.
6. “Home.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/turnup-the-app.
7. “About Us.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/about-us.
8. “About Us.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/about-us.
9. “About Us.” TurnUp. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.turnup.us/about-us.
10. “TurnUp Activism.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/company/turnup-activism/about/.
11. “Zev Shapiro.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zevshapiro/.
12. “Zev Shapiro.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zevshapiro/.
13. “Zev Shapiro.” LinkedIn. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/zevshapiro/.
14. Suozzo, Andrea. “Turnout Activism Inc.” ProPublica. May 9, 2013. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833917641/202313199349323726/full.
15. Suozzo, Andrea. “Turnout Activism Inc.” ProPublica. May 9, 2013. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/833917641/202313199349323726/full.