Delivering The Vote

Election pie

October 17, 2008

Quixote Foundation recently craved a tasty pizza and called for delivery to the office. Now, we were already fans of Pagliacci Pizza, in part because of their sustainable features like local produce and compostable packaging. So we were even more delighted to see the pizza box top arrive, brightly decorated with red, white and blue graphics proclaiming YOUR VOTE COUNTS!!

You may be aware Quixote Foundation is celebrating its ten-year anniversary by renewing our vows, and taking some new ones to help shape the next decade. Here’s one of those promises: I vow to look outside the usual movements for interesting signs of movement.

Case in point: An independent, for-profit company that promotes voting with every pizza it delivers. The more we think about this box the more excited we get. How many hungry students will take a break at around 10:00 p.m. Monday, November 3, and be reminded to get up early and vote on the 4th?

Having invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to help get-out-the-vote over the years, that $15 pie seems like a real bargain. It’s also a reminder we don’t have to be an election-related organization to do everything we can to get people to the polls.

After reading this issue of Tiltings, Brian Buzby of the North Carolina Conservation Network sent us another great example from Vermont’s Magic Hat Brewing Company. Turns out you can have a nice, frosty democratic beer along with your patriotic pizza.

And mad props go to Seattle’s free weekly newspaper The Stranger, for wrapping its October 2 issue in a Washington state voter registration form—reaching more than 400,000 readers.

So if you have a website, release newsletters, send invoices or grant checks, or just pay your bills, why not include a message encouraging recipients to vote?

Read more about Quixote Foundation’s vows and the ideas other people have contributed on our anniversary web site. Chime in with a vow of your own and you might even win some chocolate to go with your pizza and beer.

—written by Keneta Anderson for Quixote Foundation