• Home
  • Opinion
  • Quizzes
  • Redistricting
  • Sections
  • About Us
  • Voting
  • Events
  • Civic Ed
  • Campaign Finance
  • Directory
  • Election Dissection
  • Fact Check
  • Glossary
  • Independent Voter News
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Subscriptions
  • Log in
Leveraging Our Differences
  • news & opinion
    • Big Picture
      • Civic Ed
      • Ethics
      • Leadership
      • Leveraging big ideas
      • Media
    • Business & Democracy
      • Corporate Responsibility
      • Impact Investment
      • Innovation & Incubation
      • Small Businesses
      • Stakeholder Capitalism
    • Elections
      • Campaign Finance
      • Independent Voter News
      • Redistricting
      • Voting
    • Government
      • Balance of Power
      • Budgeting
      • Congress
      • Judicial
      • Local
      • State
      • White House
    • Justice
      • Accountability
      • Anti-corruption
      • Budget equity
    • Columns
      • Beyond Right and Left
      • Civic Soul
      • Congress at a Crossroads
      • Cross-Partisan Visions
      • Democracy Pie
      • Our Freedom
  • Pop Culture
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
      • American Heroes
      • Ask Joe
      • Celebrity News
      • Comedy
      • Dance, Theatre & Film
      • Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging
      • Faithful & Mindful Living
      • Music, Poetry & Arts
      • Sports
      • Technology
      • Your Take
  • events
  • About
      • Mission
      • Advisory Board
      • Staff
      • Contact Us
Sign Up
  1. Home>
  2. Voting>
  3. voting>

Why corporate civic engagement is good for democracy

Ashley Spillane
November 04, 2019
Why corporate civic engagement is good for democracy

"We must do the work to increase the number of people voting in our elections to strengthen our democracy and ensure it is representative of the American population," argues Ashley Spillane.

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

Spillane is a social impact strategist and the former head of Rock the Vote, the nonprofit group that seeks to boost the political involvement of young people.

We're a year out from the 2020 election and, as you've probably noticed, Americans are energized. Elections are becoming an increasingly pronounced part of American culture, with the presidential race becoming a part of daily conversation. Yet, despite voter turnout hitting a 100-year-midterm election high in 2018, just half of eligible voters showed up to cast a ballot last year.

Turnout in presidential years isn't much better: Less than 60 percent of the eligible voting population cast a ballot in the highly contested 2016 presidential race, placing the United States 26th out of 32 developed democracies in terms of citizen participation.

We must do the work to increase the number of people voting in our elections to strengthen our democracy and ensure it is representative of the American population.

The good news is that companies are well-positioned to help get more people excited to head to the voting booth — and many already are. An unprecedented number of brands promoted the 2018 election, sharing information about voter registration, early voting and Election Day. More than 400 companies signed a pledge to give employees information about early voting or time off to vote.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter


Understanding the emergence of corporate civic responsibility is important as leaders, managers, employees and consumers look to 2020. Studies show consumers and employees are turning to companies to play a more active role in promoting civic participation, with a recent survey showing an astonishing 81 percent of consumers more likely to buy from brands that encourage their communities to participate in democracy — and 76 percent of consumers more likely to seek employment at these brands. People expect businesses to play an active role in encouraging Americans to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

Given the current political climate, brands need to be smart about how to use their influence. Some have hesitated to dive into politics in the workplace for fear of alienating those who may have different opinions. But, fortunately for businesses, it's not necessary to take a partisan approach to encouraging people to vote.

A recent Harvard case study I authored with Sofia Gross studied eight different companies' nonpartisan efforts to encourage consumers and employees to vote. Tech companies like Snap, Inc., Spotify and Twitter all had external voter engagement campaigns, providing their consumers with election reminders, polling location finders, tools to easily register and ways to share voting experiences with friends — the results of which were far better than expected. Snap, Inc., for example, reportedly generated more than 400,000 voter registration applications through the app, 57 percent of them were generated by users ages 18-24, a typically underrepresented demographic in elections.

Other companies, like Endeavor and Patagonia, gave employees time off to ensure they could get to the polls and shared reminders about key election dates with them. Patagonia's leaders were so impressed by the positive employee feedback after closing their stores on Election Day 2016 that they called on other business leaders to do the same for the midterm. As CEO Rose Marcario explained, "No American should have to choose between a paycheck and fulfilling his or her duty as a citizen."

Our case study found voter engagement initiatives are proving to be good not only for democracy, but also for business. Even though none of these programs had the explicit goal of producing a financial benefit, companies pointed to a number of ways voter engagement initiatives created value for them — including brand-building in new markets, empowering existing consumers, strengthening relationships with employees and even elevating the companies with elected officials.

As the demand for corporate civic responsibility grows, now is the time for companies to activate civic engagement programs. We can't have a fully functioning democracy when such large swaths of the population aren't represented, and the 2020 election will give businesses a chance to differentiate themselves in this heated climate by playing an active role in fixing this. They should start planning now to set up registration booths in the office; share links to voter registration forms, polling place information, voter assistance resources through social media or intranet platforms; celebrate National Voter Registration Day; or throw an Election Day party.

America is best served when companies get involved and actively support the interests of their employees and consumers. The best way to do this is to encourage them to make their voices heard at the ballot box.

From Your Site Articles
  • 5 groups honored with civic collaboration prizes: The Civvys - The ... ›
  • Young people aren't the problem with civic participation. We're the ... ›
  • How quick video primers on democracy reform can support activism - The Fulcrum ›
  • Chris Evans launches civic engagement app - The Fulcrum ›
  • How quick video primers on democracy reform can support activism - The Fulcrum ›
  • How quick video primers on democracy reform can support activism - The Fulcrum ›
  • Companies that practice civic engagment excel financially - The Fulcrum ›
  • Federal employees get time off to vote, staff elections - The Fulcrum ›
  • Podcast: When business should take a stand - The Fulcrum ›
  • Understanding the urgency of our threatened democracy - The Fulcrum ›
  • Understanding the urgency of our threatened democracy - The Fulcrum ›
Related Articles Around the Web
  • The Definition of Civic Engagement - New York Times ›
  • Selling civic engagement: A unique role for the private sector? ›
  • Corporate Governance: Civic Engagement by Businesses is Good ... ›
  • Civic engagement now makes good business sense — Democracy ... ›
voting

Want to write
for The Fulcrum?

If you have something to say about ways to protect or repair our American democracy, we want to hear from you.

Submit
Get some Leverage Sign up for The Fulcrum Newsletter
Follow
Contributors

Reform in 2023: Leadership worth celebrating

Layla Zaidane

Two technology balancing acts

Dave Anderson

Reform in 2023: It’s time for the civil rights community to embrace independent voters

Jeremy Gruber

Congress’ fix to presidential votes lights the way for broader election reform

Kevin Johnson

Democrats and Republicans want the status quo, but we need to move Forward

Christine Todd Whitman

Reform in 2023: Building a beacon of hope in Boston

Henry Santana
Jerren Chang
latest News

Your Take: Religious beliefs

Our Staff
2h

Remembering the four chaplains eighty years later

Rabbi Charles Savenor
2h

Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Our Staff
2h

Ron DeSantis and the rise of political racism

Lawrence Goldstone
02 February

Curriculum regulations and book bans: Modern day anti-literacy laws?

Katherine Kapustka
02 February

Podcast: 2024 Senate: Democrats have a lot of defending to do

Our Staff
02 February
Videos

Video: The dignity index

Our Staff

Video: The Supreme Court and originalism

Our Staff

Video: How the baby boom changed American politics

Our Staff

Video: What the speakership election tells us about the 118th Congress webinar

Our Staff

Video: We need more bipartisan commitment to democracy: Pennsylvania governor

Our Staff

Video: Meet the citizen activists championing primary reform

Our Staff
Podcasts

Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Our Staff
2h

Podcast: 2024 Senate: Democrats have a lot of defending to do

Our Staff
02 February

Podcast: Collage: The promise of Black History Month

Our Staff
01 February

Podcast: Separating news from noise

Our Staff
30 January
Recommended
Your Take: Religious beliefs

Your Take: Religious beliefs

Your Take
Remembering the four chaplains eighty years later

Remembering the four chaplains eighty years later

Civic Ed
Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Podcast: Anti-racism: The pro-human approach

Podcasts
Video: The dignity index

Video: The dignity index

Ron DeSantis and the rise of political racism

Ron DeSantis and the rise of political racism

Big Picture
Curriculum regulations and book bans: Modern day anti-literacy laws?

Curriculum regulations and book bans: Modern day anti-literacy laws?

Big Picture