why we think it’s important to compensate organizers.
There’s a long history of organizing including both volunteer and paid organizers.
The law allows for campaigns and organizations to pay people for the work of organizing. Every election cycle thousands of people do the work of knocking on doors, calling voters or standing on street corners — sometimes paid and sometimes unpaid as volunteers.
Relational programs are different in that instead of tasking organizers with a list of voters to contact, organizers create their own lists of voters they know. Instead of being given voter lists, Relentless organizers build them.
That means it’s really important who we recruit into our programs.
If we want to motivate people who haven’t voted before, we need to recruit people who haven’t voted before and motivate them. If we want to convince people who don’t regularly vote, we need to recruit people who don’t regularly vote and convince them. Compensation helps us recruit people who can build lists that will include the most voters who are new or low-propensity voters. People like these organizers.
Their time is valuable, and they deserve to be compensated for it.
FAQs
what is the payment for?
To compensate organizers for their time. It is not a per hour wage.
is paying organizers new?
Paying organizers who are contacting people they already know is new. In the past, organizers were typically paid for outreach to a list of voters they don’t know. Rally makes it easy for people to create their own list and track who they’ve contacted.
Is it legal to pay people for organizing?
Yes.
is the compensation TIED TO votes?
No. That’s illegal.