America's Leading Companies Announce Multiple Initiatives To Ensure A Complete Census Count

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, several leading companies including Gap Inc., Snap Inc., Twitter, Lyft and Univision announced a series of initiatives, ranging from digital in-app prompts to dedicated AMAs ("Ask Me Anything") to help answer people's questions about the Census process, to support a complete and accurate count in the 2020 Census, which kicks off nationwide on March 12th.

"Never before have companies taken such an active role toward achieving a complete and accurate Census count," said Natalie Tran, executive director of the CAA Foundation and co-founder of the Civic Alliance. "The ten minutes it takes to complete this form will impact the next ten years of funding, political representation and services our communities receive. When companies encourage their employees, customers, and audiences to complete the Census, they are signaling that each of them deserves to be counted and matters to their community."

ATTN: will produce and publish explainers on the 2020 Census with the goal of ensuring that the communities that tend to be drastically undercounted understand why it is so vital to be counted. 

Gap Inc. will include information and prompts to complete the 2020 Census across its social and digital media around Census Day on April 1.

Lyft is working with partners to help make sure the census is accessible to all. The company will offer free rides to resource centers for individuals in select cities who need help filling out the census or don't have access to the Internet or a computer at home. Lyft will also host Census volunteers at select local driver Hubs to support with questions related to the census.

Reddit is hosting a dedicated AMA series to demystify the census process and give Redditors an opportunity to engage directly with individual experts, civil rights groups, NGOs, and government agencies whose work touches on it.

Snapchat will be providing users with creative tools including filters and stickers when the census launches online so users can civically express themselves and encourage their closest friends to contribute to the count.

Twitter has launched a new tool in English and Spanish that will prompt people to visit the official U.S. Census website when they search for relevant keywords on Twitter in order to make it easier to find official information. Twitter has also created a tool that allows people to report misleading information about how to participate in the census and other civic events.

Uber is leveraging its resources, including hosting U.S. Census workers at select U.S. Greenlight Hubs (GLHs), to help the U.S. Census Bureau spread awareness about the upcoming count.

Univision's Cuenta Conmigo (Count on Me) campaign is designed to engage Hispanic America through community events, town halls, public service announcements, and integrations across news, entertainment, sports, and digital in order to ensure a fair and accurate count.

The effort by these companies was organized and accelerated through the Civic Alliance -- a nonpartisan coalition of businesses founded by Democracy Works and the philanthropic arm of entertainment agency Creative Artists Agency -- working together to build a future where everyone shapes our country, with support from the National Conference on Citizenship and Census Open Innovation Labs at the U.S. Census Bureau.

The 2020 Census is the first time the U.S. Census can be completed online, and the digital prompts businesses will deploy to their audiences can help encourage census responses. The Civic Alliance has brought together several of its member companies and Census Open Innovation Labs to help companies integrate prompts, reminders, and content that will encourage their audiences and employees to achieve 100% participation in the 2020 Census.

Other Civic Alliance companies will be reaching their employee and customer bases directly to encourage them to complete the census, spread the word, volunteer with community organizations, and even serve as census enumerators.

Participating businesses also received census toolkits with recommended messaging, social media assets, clear timelines, and other campaign materials developed by the Civic Alliance, in conjunction with the U.S. Census Bureau, ReadyNation, and the National Conference on Citizenship. The Civic Alliance is also providing tailored support for member companies through a "civic concierge" service, which provides best practices for nonpartisan civic engagement and connects companies with trusted nonpartisan agencies, organizations and initiatives.

About the Civic Alliance
The Civic Alliance is America's premier nonpartisan coalition of businesses working together to build a future where everyone shapes our country. Founded by Democracy Works and the CAA Foundation, the Civic Alliance brings together and supports its member companies as they each take concrete actions that encourage internal and external audiences to participate in elections, the 2020 Census, and to be active members of their communities.

Civic Alliance member companies include Amazon, AMC Theatres, Anonymous Content, ATTN:, Bad Robot, BET, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Creative Artists Agency, CMT, Comedy Central, Discovery, Entertainment Industry Foundation, Facebook, FleishmanHillard, Gap Inc., General Assembly, iHeartMedia, INDIEShooter, Instagram, Intelligentsia Coffee, Just Salad, Kenneth Cole Productions, Lyft, Magic Hat Brewing Company, Matchwood Brewing Company, Microsoft, MTV, Paramount Network, Plan A, Reddit, Inc., Refinery29, Riot Games, Salesforce, SB Projects, Snap, Inc., Spotify, Starbucks, Studio71, Target, The Knoller Group, Thumbtack, Tribeca Enterprises, Tumblr, TV Land, Twitter, Uber, UncommonGoods, Urban Outfitters, Universal Music Group, Univision, Verizon Media, VHI, Warby Parker, WordPress, and Xandr.

To join or learn more about the Civic Alliance, visit civicalliance.com or email [email protected].

About the Co-Founding Organizations:

CAA Foundation:
The CAA Foundation was founded in 1995, born out of the agency's desire to give back to communities and harness the power and reach of the entertainment industry to create positive social change by forging strategic partnerships, encouraging volunteerism, granting financial contributions, stimulating public awareness, and providing in-kind donations. The CAA Foundation has become a leader in the entertainment community on education, the environment, and health and social issues.

Democracy Works:
Democracy Works is a nonpartisan, nonprofit that builds technology to simplify and modernize the voting process. Through TurboVote, an online tool that helps voters register and request absentee ballots, the organization sends election reminders to over seven million voters. Democracy Works also helps millions of Americans find their election information through the Voting Information Project, and helps track millions of ballots via Ballot Scout, adding confidence and transparency to the vote-by-mail process. Through partnerships with corporations, colleges, and nonprofits, Democracy Works expands the reach of its tools and technology, and makes it easier for voters to get to the polls and participate in our democracy.

SOURCE Civic Alliance

Related Links

http://www.civicalliance.com