Rural Youth Voter Fund
Increasing year-round youth civic engagement
48 million eligible young voters live outside the metro areas.
Sixty-three percent of rural youth, 30 million people, are infrequent or uncommitted voters. Of all voter demographics, people under 35 are the most undecided. They are among the least contacted by both nonpartisan and political efforts. Our experience shows the only way to activate these voters is to invest in trusted local community messengers and groups.
In partnership with Clean and Prosperous America and Movement Voter Project, Rural Democracy Initiative created the new Rural Youth Voter Fund to nurture the extraordinary promise of rural youth by investing in authentic long-term engagement of our young community members.
Seeing Rural
Twenty-four percent of rural residents are people of color, and many are immigrants. Nearly one-third of rural children under 18 are people of color. Young rural voters of color, who lean towards pro-democracy policies, are significantly underrepresented in elections.
Increasing Year-Round Youth Civic Engagement
Rural Youth Voter Fund expands civic engagement and power-building strategies year-round to mobilize young voters under 35 in small towns and rural areas. In our grantmaking and programming, we focus especially on young voters of color, taking a creative, layered approach.
- We invested and aligned $10 million over multiple years in grantmaking and capacity building for young voter-focused power-building organizations to increase their capacity, train their leaders, expand civic engagement and digital communications efforts, and organize across multiple issues.
- We helped youth grantees power key victories in 2025, from 41 young candidates trained by 603 Forward winning their races in New Hampshire to college-aged voters in Wisconsin turning out for a pivotal State Supreme Court race.
- We’re building a strong network equipped to engage young voters, one that’s coming together to share lessons, challenges, and innovative solutions.
- We’re supporting policies and groups that improve the lives of rural young people and ensure representation of their values.
- We’re amplifying highly persuasive communications through arts and culture strategies, influencer and digital outreach, and peer engagement — focused on issues they care most about, like healthcare, economic well-being, reproductive rights, climate, and education.
- We’re investing in leadership development, especially leadership pipelines for young rural people of color.
- We’re supporting rural groups mobilizing young voter participation at scale through grassroots civic engagement efforts, targeted communications and digital outreach, and media.
- We’re maximizing rural voter data collection and new tools such as the Rural Map and Dashboard to improve our analysis and targeting.
Building on Success with Young Voters
The Rural Youth Voter Fund draws from the expertise of RDI’s network of over 168 grantee groups across more than 23 states. RDI has a history of supporting successful youth-focused organizations.
Our Grantees
Youth Campaign to Protect the Right to Abortion Care
Loud Light used creative strategies like cowboy-themed campaigns and short educational clips on digital platforms to mobilize young people in Kansas to protect reproductive health care.
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Upholding Democracy and Ballot Access in Maine
Maine organizers defeated a voter‑restriction measure, protecting absentee options that rural, young, and disabled voters rely on.
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Cost of Living Conversations Spark Georgia Win
Small, trusted groups in rural Georgia turned cost‑of‑living conversations into new voter engagement and meaningful election wins.
Read moreSupport Youth Civic Engagement
Activating young voters in small towns and rural areas is one of the strongest investments we can make for our democracy. We invite you to join us!