I signed up to volunteer for the campaign of my candidate of choice but have not received any information on what to do next. I want to be one of the "making phone calls" type volunteers. What is the most effective way to get involved on this level? Is it is relatively easy or difficult to be accepted if I have no experience?
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4This is going to be very campaign/location specific. I think your best bet will be to go to the campaign office you would like to volunteer for and talk to the people there. I suspect they will be happy to send you out into the summer heat going door to door with pamphlets.– lazarusLJul 30, 2016 at 18:31
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1Same thing happened to me-filled out a form and got no response. I agree with @lazarusL though, your best bet is to actually go to the nearest campaign office and talk to a staffer about how to volunteer.– jebar8Jul 30, 2016 at 22:27
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Probably jargon but the term used in campaigns for what you're talking about is phonebanking.– LearnWorkLearnAug 2, 2016 at 20:57
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1 Answer
This typically depends on the level of campaign you're talking about, so I'll answer generally with some more specific background.
It's important to remember campaigns have limited resources below the federal level and usually can only utilize volunteers once they have the capacity to prepare for them and manage them. Usually, the person who performs this task is the Field Director or the Volunteer Coordinator.
Obviously, the first place you should go to get engaged with a campaign is their website or social media page. They will typically have a volunteer sign up page that you can fill it to begin showing up in their volunteer management database.
If you don't hear back from them, look for a headquarters phone number to call and follow up with them. If a campaign has no headquarters information, it's a pretty good indicator that the campaign doesn't have the resources available to open up a physical location. Campaigns without a physical location typically have fewer, but more large scale volunteer opportunities, like a Day of Action.
Finally, visiting the campaign in person at an event, or their physical location is going to be your best bet. Candidates are often speaking at local clubs or organizational meetings that you can attend to get more engaged.
Patience is key with campaigns, it's very typical that a campaign won't launch a full field program until mid to late August, so they may not have an opportunity available yet.
