It is now April 2019, which means that we are one year away from the 2020 Census!
The 2020 census is a once-in-a-decade opportunity to get increased federal funding and representation for our state—but over 1.6 million Washingtonians are at risk of being left out of the count. An incomplete count would mean less money for nonprofit services, schools, roads, and community projects that make our state a special place to live. Watch the video below to learn more.
We need your voice to make sure the 2020 census counts everyone in our state—no exceptions! If we don’t count everyone — especially rural communities, communities of color, children, and seniors — Washington risks losing out on $16 billion federal dollars per year. We ALL gain when everyone is counted.
State funding for census outreach would benefit Washington communities for a generation, which means we need your help to ask the state legislature to fund census outreach to ensure an accurate count. Funds would help community-based organizations that are experts in the languages, geography, and concerns of the people they serve to reach people who would otherwise be left out by the census. For these reasons, we need you to take action.
** Take Action **
- Click here to find your legislators. Their names will appear in the map underneath the address box.
- Click the names of your Senator and two Representatives. Their profiles will appear at the top of the new pages that open.
- Click the word “Email” in the profile box to be directed to the contact page.
- Enter your information and paste this template message in the message box at the bottom of the page.
[SUBJECT] Please Support $15 Million for Census Outreach
The 2020 census could mean great things for our community: more funding for schools, roads, healthcare, and community projects led by nonprofits like mine.
But sadly, 1.6 million Washingtonians are at risk of going uncounted. This jeopardizes almost $16 billion of funding per year for communities across our state.
To ensure that everyone is counted in 2020, we need the help of community organizations that know how to reach the people they serve regardless of language, geography or race.
That’s why I’m asking you to support the use of $15 million in this year’s state budget to ensure that our next census counts everyone—no exceptions.
Thank you.
Once you’ve acted, please consider:
- Sharing this action alert on social media.
- Asking your nonprofit to send the template action alert available here to its email list.
- Retweeting our Census Day of Action tweets.
- Sharing our Census video and other materials from www.washingtonnonprofits.org/2020Census to help raise awareness about the Census and what it means for nonprofits.
Later this month, we will be releasing our 2020 Action Kit for nonprofit organizations, so please keep your eyes peeled for the announcement.