“In God we Trust…all others, bring data.” Funny, sure, but daunting if you need to show a nonprofit’s accomplishments.

Foundation Center’s new tool, Foundation Funding for U.S. Democracy, indicates that foundations made grants of almost $299 million between 2011 and 2014 in the campaigns, elections, and voting category, which  includes support for implementation, research, reform, and/or mobilizations efforts related to campaign finance, election administration, redistricting, voting access, as well as voter registration, education, and turnout. More than half those grant dollars went for voter registration, education, and turnout initiatives, and, as one might expect, the annual total spiked in 2012, a presidential election year, as did funding for voting rights efforts.

Nonprofits need to focus on communicating impact with donors all year long, not just as a means to meet year-end goals. This recap of a session presented by Bill Mountcastle, President & Principal Advisor at Health Philanthropy Services Group, LLC, explains why.