5 Ways to Volunteer in Elections from Home

Help! Warrior down! Friends, I went and sprained my ankle and it’s awful timing! I was planning on volunteering for a few door-to-door canvasses in these last days before the election. Now I’m home-bound, and even the idea of piling myself crutches-and-all into the car and hobbling into a local phone bank has me exhausted before I even start. But my activist spirit will not be reined in! I’m going to volunteer from home!

What do when traditional volunteering isn’t for you?

Even before the fates collided to ground me, I was struggling with finding time because I’m the mother of a little one. I was feeling awful because I can barely find 20 minutes uninterrupted time, much less two hours away from the house. Is that you too, friends? 

Maybe you’re in the same situation? Maybe work is overwhelming right now? Perhaps you’re an introvert and the idea of talking to strangers over the phone gives you hives? But overwhelming guilt that if you don’t do something physical to stop this tide of hate sweeping our country, has you afraid that you’ll never sleep well again? What to do?

Lots of people feel left out of traditional grassroots organizing. Some are home-bound with a disability. Others are introverted. Even more have lots of personal commitments that make them feel they can’t find time to grab their democracy by the proverbials.

This movement needs YOU

It’s really not true that organizing is just for the extroverts. There’s a place in this movement for everyone. We need all of us–not just the crazy extroverts who love going door-to-door, but also the quiet behind-the-scenes organizers and the people who feed the troops, and the ones who organize the lists. There’s even a lot you can do in your few spare minutes from home!

Friends, since the fates have conspired to keep me home these elections, I’ve done my research and here are five places that you can volunteer from home using just your internet connection and a cell phone!

Let’s get to work!

1. Vote Forward – If you act right now you can still participate with Vote Forward, which helps you send letters to unlikely voters in targeted swing districts. Personalized letters are a great way to reach out to unlikely voters, and in more than one case they have been proven to be the thing that made the difference in getting people to the polls!
2. Remember in November – Were the Supreme Court confirmation hearings particularly painful for you? Is that what’s got you charged up to get people to the polls? With the #RememberInNovember movement, you can print and send e-postcards or download and print postcards to send to people in your life. They also have postcards for Healthcare, Immigration, Climate Change, Housing and Education.
3. Daily Kos remote events – Daily Kos has multiple pages of activities you can do from home. Some are postcards or donating for particular candidates, and there are a whole slew of phonebanking options where you can make calls from home for the Democratic party in key states like Ohio, Florida, Indiana, Texas, Maryland, Maine, Mississippi, Georgia, Vermont, and Wisconsin. You can browse their list for opportunities, or you can use their search engine to narrow it down to campaigns in areas or for people that matter most to you!
4. Open Progress Text Troop – The Open Progress Text Troop is a group of volunteers from across the country who are engaging in issue-focused conversations with voters via person-to-person text messages. They encourage citizens across the country, whether English or Spanish-speaking, to register to vote. They even work to persuade and identify their support for causes and candidates or help voters find their polling locations. All volunteers get training via a Slack group, and they offer volunteer events targeting a broad range of electoral races nationwide. This one seems to require a little more of a time commitment, but it also seems to give you a community of activists from all over the country. This is a great option for someone who’s home-bound or longing for more connection!
5. MoveOn Text Team – The MoveOn Text Team harnesses the power of p2p (peer-to-peer) texting using Spoke–their web-based texting tool which allows you to message hundreds (even thousands!) of members and voters from any computer, tablet or mobile device. Just connect to the internet and you’re all set to go!
6. BONUS: And also if you live in my beloved State of Maine, please join our Activism Joy Studio’s Care Caravan–a group of volunteers who are bringing the self-care (healthy meals and snacks! yoga! mini-massages! reiki!) to the folks in the electoral trenches. Even from home you can help by prepping snacks or making a healthy meal we can pick up and bring to the volunteers working!

I hope you found the campaign for you. What do YOU plan to do? Let’s share our energy in the comments!