User:Maxkennedy18/sandbox

TurboVote is a voter-registration project that allows users to fill out voter registration forms online and sign up for text and email reminders about upcoming elections. The site is operated by Democracy Works, a non-partisan, non-profit organization that makes civic technology. Started in 2010 by two students, Seth Flaxman and Kathryn Peters, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, TurboVote has helped over 200,000 people register to vote. The organization reaches users primarily through partnerships with over 130 US colleges, though non-students may still use the main site and receive the same services.

History
Founded in 2010, TurboVote was the first project of the non-profit Democracy Works. Flaxman came up with the idea after realizing he had missed several elections and began to look for a way to be reminded of upcoming elections online. He met with fellow Kennedy school student Peters and they began to develop an online system to make vote-by-mail services more accessible. With an initial grant from Sunlight Labs and over $26,000 dollars raised using the online crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, TurboVote was created.

After a successful pilot launch at Boston University, the organization established its first official partnership in 2011 with Harvard University. In May 2012, a total of twenty schools had integrated the site into their voter registration efforts. In 2014 the hundredth school signed on as a partner.

The Knight Foundation lent financial support to the organization's efforts in Florida, and the entire Florida College System signed on for partnership. Later that year Google launched its Online Voter Guide and linked to TurboVote from its main page.

Sustainability Model
Democracy Works, the organization that operates TurboVote, is a non-profit organization, but it uses earned revenue from partnerships to offset its expenses. Partner schools pay an annual fee to cover some day-to-day expenses, the cost of the help desk, and the cost of sending out email and text reminders. These fees help the organization depend less on traditional fundraising efforts and grants with the goal of being fully sustainable from that revenue. Pre-addressed, pre-stamped envelopes are provided at cost to schools so users can send in their forms more easily. As of May 2013, approximately one third of TurboVote's expenses were paid for by earned revenue.

Some of Democracy Works' other projects, including the Voter Information Project and Reboot also help the organization grow more financially sustainable. Flaxman hopes the organization will be self-sustaining by 2015.

Timeline
April 2010: Democracy Works was founded by Seth Flaxman and Kathryn Peters, both students at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

September 2010: A pilot program of TurboVote, Democracy Works' first project, was tested at Boston University. Of the 300 students who signed up, "one-third of the participating students said they wouldn’t have voted had it not been for his service."

November 2010: The Kickstarter campaign surpasses its goal of $25,000.

August 2011: Harvard becomes the first college to sign up for an official partnership with TurboVote.

January 2012: Columbia becomes the second college to partner.

February 2012: The Knight Foundation pays for three schools in Miami to partner with TurboVote.

July 2012: TurboVote hits the 20 school milestone.

August 2012: The number of partnerships doubles in one month, to 40.

September 2012: More than 30,000 college students sign up online using TurboVote. Google partners and links to TurboVote on National Voter Registration Day.

November 2012: 190,000 people vote in the 2012 elections with the help of TurboVote.

May 2013: The Knight Foundation offers one million dollars in support for TurboVote's operations."

April 2014: The hundredth college joins as a partner.