The GoVoteNYC Fund is a left-of-center collective of New York City foundations that gives funding to increase voter turnout among minority voters in New York City local elections. While the organization says it does not fund voter registration drives, it gives grantees funding to contact voters about New York elections. GoVoteNYC asserts minority voters contacted by its partner organizations vote at nearly double the rate of minority voters that were not contacted. ¹

GoVoteNYC is funded by 13 member organizations, including left-of-center foundations such as the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, Rockefeller Foundation, and Robert Sterling Clark Foundation. ² The organization received $2.45 million in 2021, a New York City mayoral election year, from its member organizations for grantmaking, including $550,000 from the Ford Foundation. ^{3 4}

Agenda

GoVoteNYC funds charitable nonprofits that work to increase voter turnout. The organization says its grants are designed to increase voter participation in New York City’s municipal elections, increase New York City nonprofits’ “capacity” to engage voters, increase coordination among nonprofits seeking to make the electorate more “inclusive,” and eliminate alleged “barriers” to voting. ⁵ GoVoteNYC says it will not fund organizations that “carry on propaganda, or otherwise to attempt, to influence legislation,” “conduct voter registration drives,” or “make any grant to an individual for travel, study, or other similar purposes.” ⁶

GoVoteNYC says that in 2021, only about one-fourth of New York City residents voted in local elections. ⁷ While GoVoteNYC claims it is nonpartisan, the organization’s goal is to increase turnout among minority voters, and accomplishes this goal by having grantees contact voters. The organization says its partner organizations contacted 2 million voters in 2021 and 1.8 million voters in 2022. ⁸

GoVoteNYC says minority voters contacted by its partner organizations voted at nearly twice the rate of minority voters who were not contacted. ⁹ One grantee reported that Hispanic voters reached by its efforts voted at double the rate of noncontacted voters, and another grantee reported that turnout among contacted Asian voters was 15 percent higher than noncontacted voters. ¹⁰

Grantees

As of 2023, GoVoteNYC had nine current grantees and eight former grantees. Current grantees included United Neighborhood Houses, Faith in New York, El Puente, the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College at CUNY, Asian American Federation, New York Civic Engagement Table, the Hispanic Federation, the New York Immigration Coalition, and the MinKwon Center for Community Action. ¹¹

The organization’s eight former grantees are the New York City Employment and Training Coalition, the College and Community Fellowship, the Center for the Independence of the Disabled New York, the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition, the Queens Public Library, the Brooklyn Public Library, the New York Public Library, and Hester Street. ¹²

Funding

While exact financial details for GoVoteNYC are not available since the organization is under the New York Community Trust, the Ford Foundation gave the fund $550,000 in April 2021 and $300,000 in April 2023 (both New York City municipal election years) for “core support” to “coordinate donors and support nonpartisan voter engagement efforts across New York City.” ¹³ GoVoteNYC says it received $2.45 million in 2021 for grants. ¹⁴

GoVoteNYC has 13 member organizations that support its work. They are the Altman Foundation, Brooklyn Community Foundation, Charles H. Revson Foundation, Ford Foundation, Moelis Family Foundation, New York Community Trust, New York Foundation, New York Women’s Foundation, Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Scherman Foundation, Trinity Church Wall Street Philanthropies, and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock. ¹⁵

1.  GoVoteNYC. “Executive Summary.” https://www.govotenyc.org/tm-summary. Accessed September 18, 2023.
2. GoVoteNYC. “Who We Are.” https://www.govotenyc.org/who-we-are. Accessed September 17, 2023.
3. GoVoteNYC. “Executive Summary.” https://www.govotenyc.org/tm-summary. Accessed September 18, 2023.
4. GoVoteNYC. “Who We Are.” https://www.govotenyc.org/who-we-are. Accessed September 17, 2023.
5. GoVoteNYC. “What We Do.” https://www.govotenyc.org/what-we-do. Accessed September 17, 2023.
6. GoVoteNYC. “What We Do.” https://www.govotenyc.org/what-we-do. Accessed September 17, 2023.
7. GoVoteNYC. “Executive Summary.” https://www.govotenyc.org/tm-summary. Accessed September 18, 2023.
8. GoVoteNYC. “Executive Summary.” https://www.govotenyc.org/tm-summary. Accessed September 18, 2023.
9. GoVoteNYC. “Executive Summary.” https://www.govotenyc.org/tm-summary. Accessed September 18, 2023.
10. GoVoteNYC. “Executive Summary.” https://www.govotenyc.org/tm-summary. Accessed September 18, 2023.
11.  GoVoteNYC. “What We Do.” https://www.govotenyc.org/what-we-do. Accessed September 17, 2023.
12. GoVoteNYC. “What We Do.” https://www.govotenyc.org/what-we-do. Accessed September 17, 2023.
13. Ford Foundation. “Grants Database.” https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/awarded-grants/grants-database/?search=go+vote. Accessed September 17, 2023.
14. GoVoteNYC. “Executive Summary.” https://www.govotenyc.org/tm-summary. Accessed September 18, 2023.
15. GoVoteNYC. “Who We Are.” https://www.govotenyc.org/who-we-are. Accessed September 17, 2023.