Community Canvasser

Applications Due: Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Until position is filled.

Hours: 10-20 hours/week

Compensation: Starting at $20-24/hour, depending on experience

Timeline: Now through Mid-November 2024

Location:  Approximately one-quarter to half of this position may be carried out virtually via email, phone, and video conference; however, this position requires weekly, regular in-person work in or near Wenatchee and/or Omak, and across North Central Washington.

The Opportunity

Rural People’s Voice (RPV) is building a multi-racial majority of rural working people, ready to come together to rewrite the future of North Central Washington. Rural People’s Voices (RPV) is seeking two temporary, part-time Community Canvassers, one in Omak and one in Wenatchee, to play a pivotal role in our base building and electoral program in key communities across North Central Washington, with a particular focus on the Omak/Okanogan region. This year RPV is working to engage community members and voters through deep canvassing (conversations with and surveying community members on their doorstep about the issues they care about), voter identification conversations, canvassing for candidates, and other community conversations. We are committed to building a long-term base of working- and middle-class power through both community organizing and participating in elections at a local and state level. 

The Community Canvassers will be responsible for supporting community-based organizing tactics, including deep listening, issue-based, and/or electoral canvasses, depending on work needed, and possibly supporting community events in Omak and/or Wenatchee. Canvassers will be tasked with knocking on doors, conducting deep listening conversations, and tracking data and conversations. The ultimate goal of their work will be to learn about the issues that matter to working people in key communities and what solutions they think their communities need, move people on the doorstep or at an event to greater alignment with the RPV Platform or a specific issue-based campaign, and engage them in RPV’s work of winning elections and building long-term power for working people. 

The ideal candidate is a people-person who is highly motivated to build a powerful base that wins changes for working- and middle-class people in NCW. They have an organizer mindset, a willingness to learn, strong interpersonal skills, are a team player, are able to work independently, and are mission-aligned. Previous experiences as an organizer, grassroots leader, cheerleader, event planner, team captain, club president, volunteer coordinator, or any role where you’ve brought people together and inspired action is preferred but not required. 

This position reports to the Organizing Manager.


Community Canvasser Essential Functions

  • Organize through door knocking: Identify new supporters by knocking on doors and talking about our campaign issues and candidates 

  • Community events: Attend local events to register new voters and engage/identify new supporters of RPV.  

  • Meetings and training: Attend required meetings and/or training sessions.

  • Teamwork: collaborate with the Organizing team, learn and share best practices for outreach, and work alongside an assigned partner at events and canvassing.

  • Follow-up: Make calls to follow-up with potential leaders or volunteers. Provide encouragement, resource materials, and information.

  • Tracking: Ensure that data collection and entry is timely, consistent, and accurate

  • Plan and follow-through: In order to meet your goals, meet your canvassing partner at the Wenatchee office or mutually agreed upon location for canvassing. 

  • Travel: Travel will be expected across Okanogan, Chelan, and possibly Douglas counties; there may be travel out of the region for training, or to support other organizing efforts.

Required Skills and Experience

  • Excellent communication and listening skills: Is able to engage deeply with people they have just met. Be able to listen to community members and understand their concerns. Can build rapport quickly and is comfortable having rational conversations. 

  • Team player: Be able to contribute to a growing and fast-paced team. Be able to take directions well and also be willing to contribute by offering feedback and suggestions to co-workers and management. Offer support to teammates and be able to ask for help when needed. 

  • Independent worker: Be able to complete work independently, including identifying, recruiting, and supporting volunteers. Must meet deadlines and hit metric goals and ensure that numbers are reported on time with data integrity at the top of mind. Pay attention to details and be able to provide thoughtful solutions to problems that arise. Be able to work in a fast-paced environment where work areas are expected to change frequently. 

  • Mission alignment: Committed to the vision of a powerful, inclusive, rural, multiracial, working, and middle-class movement-building as a path toward liberation for all people. Is aligned with the idea that building power takes both election programs and long-term base building and investment in communities.

  • Rural experience: Personal or professional experience living in rural communities, living in rural Washington, rural organizing, and/or organizing are a plus but not required. 

  • Bilingual in Spanish and English, preferred

Additional Details

  • Location: Approximately one-quarter to half of this position may be carried out virtually via email, phone, and video conference; however, this position requires weekly, regular in-person work in or near Wenatchee and/or Omak, and across North Central Washington.

  • Schedule: This is a temporary, part-time (10-20 hours/week, temporary, five-month position with additional hours possible over the summer and fall) hourly non-exempt position supervised by the Organizing Manager. This position requires regular weeknight and occasional weekend hours and can accommodate for other work hours. Exact start-date is negotiable; however, we seek to start this position as soon as possible. Highly desirable to attend an out of town training on June 15-16th.

  • Travel: This position will require frequent driving for canvassing, logistics and coordination, meetings and events. This position must own or have full time access to a car as a licensed, insured driver. We cover mileage reimbursements. We also provide per diem and lodging for all required overnight travel. Where possible, we carpool and encourage use of public transit.

  • Employer: This position is split between Rural People’s Voice, a 501(c)(4) and Rural People’s Platform, a 501(c)(3).

  • Salary and Benefits: This is a part-time position, compensated at $20-24/hour, dependent on experience. The position is short-term, beginning at a five month term, and has the possibility to extend as funding allows. This position does not qualify for benefits. In-person and remote work will be required. RPV values a healthy workplace, worker rights and worker respect, including family and kid-friendly work options.

Job Requirements

  • Must have a valid Washington State driver's license or access to reliable transportation 

  • Able to stand and walk for long periods of time

  • Able to talk to all kinds of people, including knocking on doors of people you do not know, speaking at events, and having respectful conversations with people with whom you disagree

  • Able to work alone/without direct supervision

  • Able to sit and perform work duties at a computer for long periods of time

  • Able to collect, input, and analyze basic to intermediate data in an online database

  • Able and willing to travel regularly for work

How to Apply

We strongly encourage applications from those who live, work, and contribute to rural North Central Washington. We invite people of color; immigrant, bilingual, and multicultural individuals; d/Deaf people and people with disabilities; members of LGBTQIA+ and gender non-conforming communities; and people with other diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Come join us at RPV!

Please submit a cover letter and resume with Community Canvasser in the subject. We will be inviting applicants to interviews on a rolling basis. Please send these application materials to teresa@ruralpeoplesvoice.org, Organizing Manager.

Rural People’s Voice envisions a North Central Washington economy that works for all of us: jobs that support a family, housing and healthcare we can afford, great schools for every student, protection of our natural resources, and a rural region where all our people have a fair shot.

We are a visionary organization calling on the best thinking from across the state and country to build a people’s government, reclaim the rural narrative, build a multi-racial working- and middle-class majority, forward key initiatives and policies, to finally get an economy and future that builds strength and stability for all of us in North Central Washington (NCW).

Our success will result in ...

  • Jobs that give all people fair wages and harness the massive opportunity of a new green economy 

  • Schools and childcare that provide foundational and ambitious education outcomes for children from birth through college and ensure access to the resources families need to thrive

  • Healthcare that is affordable and accessible to all

  • Housing markets centered on safe and secure housing for working families, aging adults, and all people who call our region “home”

  • Laws and policies that are fair for all of us, regardless of where we come from, what we look like, or who we are

  • Fair taxes that ensure those at the top pay their share, so we can all have enough

  • Natural resources that bring vitality to our economy, our land, and our lives for generations to come

To get there, we will build on four bold strategies ...

  1. Build a people’s government our communities need and deserve

  2. Organize with our neighbors for a multi-racial working- and middle-class majority

  3. Reclaim the rural narrative of who we are, where we come from, and what a better future for all of us looks like

  4. Advance key policies and initiatives that support working people and families

About Rural People’s Voice