Guidelines for LWVCC to determine which groups meet the criteria for partnering or collaboration.
Recent months have presented LWVCC with a number of inquiries and requests to co-sponsor or collaborate with other organizations on events and presentations or join in coalitions. The current political climate has generated this query for many leagues across the nation. In an effort to establish a consistent way to respond to such requests, LWVUS has created guidelines found at:
Key Partnership Guidance
The central point of the LWVUS guidance is that local and state Leagues have broad autonomy in deciding whether to partner, collaborate, co-sponsor events, or join coalitions. Leagues do not need to seek permission from LWVUS, and there is no national list of approved partner organizations. There are some narrower situations where “looping in” national for input is most useful.
When evaluating a potential partnership, LWVCC should keep the following boundary in mind:
- Leagues should not join coalitions or enter partnerships that are primarily focused on supporting or opposing candidates or political parties.
- Outside of that limitation, the decision rests with the local League and should be guided by its values, priorities, and public policy positions.
The fact that an organization may at some point endorse a candidate does not preclude a league partnership. We need to consider how our values and priorities align with this partner and how the planned activity aligns with our commitment to our public policy positions.
Approved: 2026/10/07
