League of Women Voters of Greater Omaha

2017-2018 Accomplishments

Voter Services-

Voter Registration and Deputy Voter Registrar Training-

The League sponsored a deputy registrar training last fall with over 60 signing up to attend.  Our League regularly works with the Douglas County Election Commission on voter registration and has an excellent working relationship with the election commissioner, his deputy and staff.

In 2017, LWVGO:

• Logged 851 volunteer hours by 195 volunteers
• Registered 468 folks at 70 sites, including 132 seniors in high school, 162 community sites, 174 newly naturalized
• Distributed 520 Citizen Guides to Voting and displayed voter information in 125 City
• Sent 534 reminders to vote by postcard and 614 by
• We hosted 20 TV shows on issues and three candidate
• We distributed 3,500 Voters Guides, our non-partisan print piece that offers a great deal of information from office candidates in their own

We provided voter education for:

• 12 American Government classes in the Omaha Public Schools
• 38 partner
• In 2018, so far, 284 high school seniors were registered to vote and three presentations were made.

Naturalization Ceremonies-

A team attends all ceremonies to congratulate new citizens and to allow them to register to vote immediately, if desired. Each new citizen receives a packet including a voter registration form, a brochure on their voting rights in Nebraska, another brochure explaining how to perform the act of voting, a ballpoint pen with our League’s contact information and a business card with Vote411.org information. In 2017, 525 new citizens received LWVGO packets and 174 new citizens registered to vote. In 2018, so far,140 new citizens received packets and 68 new citizens registered to vote.

Get Out the Vote-

This committee created a Get Out the Vote tool kit including magnets, business cards and other voter information. It sends postcards and/or text messages to newly registered voters reminding them to actually get out and vote on election day.

Election Education Resources-

Voters Guide, Vote 411.org and video-recorded Candidate Forums for municipal and Primary Elections were produced. All were available online with hard copies of the Voters Guide available at all public library branches and the election commission office.

Go, Vote, Omaha!-

Our weekly half-hour television program on local public access television covering public policy issues and providing Candidate Forums in election season. In 2017, we had five candidate or issue forums for the City of Omaha elections. In 2018, we had 9 candidate forums and one issue forum for the May 15 primary election.

Running and Winning-

In partnership with the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Service Learning Academy, our League held the 6th edition of the biennial Running and Winning workshop for high school girls on October 25th. The one-day workshop is designed to give girls a taste of what it’s like to run for elective office and run a campaign. We invite women who are current or past elected officials to share their expertise with young future leaders. By introducing bright young women to experienced female politicians in this fun, informative, non-partisan event, we hope to encourage them to consider running for political office one day.

Past elected officials were invited to share their expertise with young future leaders.  Approximately 49 girls from four high schools (Omaha Central High School, Omaha South High School, Westside High School and Northwest High School) participated.

Membership-

We welcomed 77 new members between April 1, 2017 and May 1, 2018 (compared to 53 in the same period from 2016-2017), bringing our 1/1/2017 to present new-member total to 105 and our total number of members as of May 1, 2018 to 240. Membership directors have reached out to every new member to offer their time to meet with the new member, welcoming them into the League and getting them connected to all the wonderful resources and volunteer opportunities available.

Meet the League events are held to expand membership along social events such as a Christmas party.  Our League participates in many annual parades and events such as Earth Day to highlight our work and increase the visibility of our work in the community.  It also has a Book Club that participates in the Great Decisions discussion program on world affairs.

Dine and Discuss–

Monthly evening meetings open to the public are held at a local restaurant. A featured guest presents on a public policy issue for education and discussion.

Communications-

In October 2017, LWVGO launched a brand-new, custom-designed website with a blog allowing subscriptions. Since then, the website has had more than 13,000 unique page views with about 8,000 of those coming in the month leading up to our primary election.

The new website provides safe and secure payment processing, allowing for much easier new memberships and membership renewals to take place (and be paid for) online. So far, we’ve had 91 members join or renew online. The site also allows for payment for “one-off” use and we used the website to register and collect payment from attendees at our annual meeting.

We also set up Google for Nonprofits, a wide-ranging suite of powerful business applications, provided for free, that will allow for easier board-member communication and collaboration. We will continue to look for additional efficiencies to be gained by having a more robust online toolset.

Our monthly Bulletin was revised as an emailed publication. Expanded social media presence on three platforms: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Fundraising-

Successfully applied for and received several grants for voter services and to fund an Office Administrator position. Fundraising efforts include annual events: an Ice Cream Social and participation in the 24 hr Omaha Gives! charitable challenge hosted by the Omaha Community Foundation.

Juvenile Justice Forum-

Our League cosponsored with the League of Women Voters of Nebraska and  Partnership 4Kids the first annual Kim Culp Juvenile Justice Forum in March 2018.  Culp was LWVGO’s Vice President at the time of her death last year. She was founding Director of the Douglas County Juvenile Assessment Center (JAC). The annual forum in her memory is intended to honor her legacy and to  educate the community about important issues affecting youth in the juvenile justice system. Culp developed several programs through the JAC and non-profits in Omaha stressing relationship building, cultural competence, and understanding the impact the children’s welfare system has on the lives of youth.