Community Organizing 101

After sitting on the sidelines, opining and frustrated for a long time, I ventured in to the trenches of community organizing. Discontentment about the crescendo of the right wing noise machine has fueled my desire to make a difference and to stop being a drowned-out spectator. With just over 2 months until the mid-term elections I am growing increasingly anxious about a pendulum swing that may set us back to the failed ways of the previous administration.

This weekend I volunteered to take part in a phone blitz put on by Organizing for America. OFA is a project of the DNC and the successor organization of President Obama's 2008 campaign. The August 28th rallying effort was given the banner of Moving America Forward Day of Action.

I have a desire to do something. As I discovered, this is not it, but it's a start and will hopefully lead to network connections that will help me identify a role that is more appropriately suited to my particular strengths. My task for this day was to call registered voters and ask for support in the upcoming mid-term elections. I was provided a script that included an introduction of myself as an OFA volunteer, a brief description of OFA and a request for support.

The plan was to contact 600 people in our county. Each of the volunteers was given a list of names, numbers and a response log. My list had 61 names. I spoke with 13 people. 10 said they would vote and the others were uncertain or unwilling to discuss the topic with me.

In 2008 there was a big push to get people registered to vote. More than 30% of the people on my list were under 26 years old. I was able to speak directly to only one of the young people on the list. He was uncertain as to whether he would vote, and had no idea who he might vote for, but he was polite and thanked me for urging him to get informed and to vote.

My efforts yielded a response rate of slightly more than 16%. After 15 unanswered or wrong-number calls, I confess to being somewhat disillusioned. To be fair I was calling on a Saturday, early in the afternoon when many people would be shopping, gardening or spending time with their friend and family. It seems to me that the best time to call might be from 7-9 pm, on a week night, after dinner, before prime time TV shows start. That said I'm not keen on taking random survey calls during my evening decompression hours.

My personal views notwithstanding, this kind of grass roots effort is important and is undertaken across the country by volunteers whose motivations vary. When we met for an organizing meeting I had the chance to speak with several of the other volunteers. For some it's very personal. There's a cause or an issue that has moved them to become involved. For others it's more of a big picture issue and a desire to be part of something bigger than themselves. For me it's about integrity and credibility. I don't want to be the guy that just rants and complains about the state of the world and who does nothing. I don't want to be THAT guy!