Paid field work

Get paid to get out the vote

Political work is almost always something you get asked to do for free. This isn't that. $25 an hour, you pick your own shifts, and no experience required.

Apply to canvass What the job actually is

The part you actually want to know

What you'd make

Shift math — at $25 an hour

One weeknight shift 4 hrs $100
One Saturday 6 hrs $150
Two evenings and a Saturday 14 hrs $350
A four-week push at that pace 56 hrs $1,400
Before taxes. Your exact rate and terms are confirmed in writing before your first shift — nobody should be finding out the terms on a doorstep.

You build your own schedule

Open shifts get posted, you claim the ones you want, and you work them. Nobody assigns you a rota and nobody asks you to justify a week you sat out. Take four hours or take thirty.

Getting paid, specifically

  • Paid every two weeks, by direct deposit
  • Hours tracked in the app you're already canvassing with — no paper timesheets to chase
  • Training time is paid time
  • A shift that gets cancelled on you inside 24 hours is still paid

The work comes in waves, and we won't pretend otherwise

Shift volume spikes in the four to six weeks before an election and thins out in between. Claim early in a busy stretch and you'll get what you want; in a quiet month there may be very little posted.

How it works

Closer to picking up a shift than taking a job

1. Shifts get posted

Turf, date, time, and how many canvassers are needed. You see everything open near you.

2. You claim what you want

First come, first served. No minimum, no set weekly hours, and no explaining yourself when you skip a week.

3. You show up and get paid

The one hard rule. A claimed shift is a commitment — drop it in advance if plans change, don't just vanish on the crew.

The work

What the job actually is

You get a route, a list, and a script on your phone. You knock, you ask a few short questions, you tap the answers in, you move on. That's the whole job. It is the most effective get-out-the-vote tactic anyone has ever measured, and it is not complicated.

01

Knock doors

The main thing. Two to four hour blocks, usually late afternoon into evening on weekdays and midday on weekends, because that's when people are home. You're assigned a partner or a nearby crew.

02

Phones

Same script, from a chair. Paid the same. This is the answer if you can't walk a route, don't drive, or just want to work from home in February.

03

Texting

Peer-to-peer texting shifts, entirely from your phone. Highest volume, least walking, and the easiest first shift if you've never done any of this.

04

Petitions

Signature collection for ballot initiatives, paid per signature rather than hourly. Fast collectors make more than $25 an hour; slow ones make less. We'll be straight with you about which you are.

05

Crew lead

After a few solid weeks: run a turf, cut routes, train new canvassers, handle quality control. Higher rate. Most of our leads started as canvassers two cycles ago.

06

Election Day

The longest and best-paid day of the cycle. Knock-and-drag, rides to the polls, and chase lists. If you only do one paid day, do this one.

Requirements

What you need

  • To be 18 or older. Petition circulation in Michigan requires it, and most shifts run past dark.
  • Legal authorization to work in the U.S. We'll do the I-9 paperwork with you before your first shift.
  • A smartphone. Routes, lists, and your hours all live in an app. Tell us on the form if this is a problem — it's sometimes solvable.
  • A car, or a ride you can absolutely count on. Turf is spread out — two pieces of the same Detroit program can be miles apart, and there's often no transit line between them. If you don't drive, you need someone who can guarantee they'll get you there, not someone who usually can.
  • To show up when you said you would. Honestly the whole job. A canvasser who reliably appears is worth three who are better talkers.

Non-requirements

What you don't

  • Political experience. Most people we hire have none. Training is paid and takes an afternoon.
  • Policy knowledge. You have a script. "I don't know, but it's on the campaign's site" is a correct answer and we'll teach you to say it.
  • To be an extrovert. Half our best canvassers are quiet. Conversations are 40 seconds long.
  • A set weekly commitment. No minimum hours. Work one shift a month or five a week.
  • To be able to walk a route. Phone and text shifts pay the same, and you can work those from anywhere. Say so on the form.

Apply

Canvasser application

Takes about two minutes. A real person reads every one of these.

New shifts get posted by text. This is how the work actually reaches you.
We staff locally. Where you live decides what turf you get.
What work are you up for?
When would you usually claim shifts? Not a commitment — it just decides which openings we point you at.
A guess is fine. You claim shifts as they come, so nothing here locks you in.
Turf can be miles apart, sometimes with no transit between the two ends. Be honest here — it decides which shifts you can actually claim.
Bilingual canvassers are the hardest people to find and the most useful to have. It's worth telling us.
Prior organizing work, accessibility needs, a hard schedule constraint, questions.

Vote for Change LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We don't discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, height, weight, marital status, familial status, veteran status, or genetic information. Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act covers several of those, and we go further than it requires. Need an accommodation to apply or to work a shift? Say so in the notes and we'll sort it out.

We use this to hire you and get you onto shifts, and nothing else. We don't sell or trade applicant information. Privacy policy.

Straight answers

Questions people actually ask

Is this door-to-door sales?

No. You're not selling anything, collecting money, or entering anyone's home. You knock, ask whether they're planning to vote and what matters to them, record the answer, and leave. Nobody is asked for a dollar.

What if someone's hostile?

You leave. Immediately, no argument, no attempt to win it. That's the trained response and nobody will second-guess you for using it. You'll have a crew lead's number in your phone the entire shift.

What if it rains?

You canvass in the rain — it's Michigan, and turnout doesn't wait for weather. Lightning, ice storms, and extreme heat cancel a shift, and a shift cancelled on short notice is still paid.

Can I do this alongside school or another job?

That's most of who does it, and it's why shifts work the way they do. You claim what fits the week you're actually having. Nobody is tracking whether you worked less this month than last.

Do I really need a car?

For door shifts, effectively yes. Turf is spread out — two pieces of the same Detroit program can be miles apart with no transit line between them, and a canvasser who can't reach the second half of a route costs the crew the shift. If you don't drive, you need a ride you can count on every time. Phone and text shifts have no transport requirement at all and pay the same.

Will this turn into something more permanent?

Sometimes, honestly. Crew lead, then field organizer, then field director is a normal path and it moves fast in a good cycle. But campaign work is seasonal by nature and we'd rather you hear that from us now than discover it in December.

Who is Vote for Change?

A Michigan political consulting cooperative. We run field, fundraising, and communications programs for campaigns and advocacy organizations around the state, and we hire in-state rather than flying crews in. More about the company.