To pay or not to pay, that is the question.
A lot of campaigns struggle with paying door knockers and live callers.
Our reply is simple: Why?
If you are a data driven campaign, every action you take going forward should be around that data. To use it and have it work for you, sometimes you need to pay a little extra. Most campaigns that miss their voter contact goals have done one of two things. They have either relied solely on volunteers OR they haven’t recruited a big enough team of paid walkers and callers. Paid walkers and callers are accountable to you. And they want to get paid. Campaigns can no longer rely on volunteers to hit their voter contact goals. The world has changed.
Here are a couple of quick solutions for you. Hire a team of three or five walkers and callers to start with. Task two or four, in teams of two, with either calling or walking. The third or fifth should be a full time recruiter of volunteers (they aren’t dependable, but you still want them), filling out a calendar and spreadsheet with targeted days, hours and precincts for the ensuing months.
Cost. You will find that you’re generally going to be in the $15 per hour range with these paid walkers and callers. With Sidekick, they clock in and clock out, so you can track their time down to the second. You should plan on having them working 5-6 days a week, 5-6 hours per day.
For a team of three, this will cost you $1350 per five day week, $5400 per month.
For a team of five, this will cost you $2250 per week, $9000 per month.
Some reading this post are thinking, “That’s a lot of money!”
Roll that though back for a minute and ask yourself these two questions:
“Am I willing to do what it costs to win?” If so, you’ll find the money to pay for walkers and callers. They will be a tremendous hub of work around which your campaign will revolve.
The second question is: “What is essential for me to win?” It shouldn’t be TV, radio or mail. It should be voter contact. From that voter contact comes enriched data that you can use to inform every decision your campaign makes going forward.
Whether you choose this formula about or some other way of hitting your voter contact goals, be creative and then implement the plan.
The two resources a campaign will never have enough of are people and time, so you’d better get moving.
The clock is ticking.
