A more representative govt: Everyday Canvassing
How your donation helps!
Every dollar gets us closer to hiring our first full-time Everyday Canvasser and buying equipment. And with that one person, we estimate we'll be able to listen to and record 2,652 people in their first year of canvassing. Those 2,652 people will individually be heard and listened to by their politicians. Most of those people wouldn't have had contact with their representatives otherwise. And while we won't get to talk to every door we knock, out of the 17,680 doors we expect to knock in the first year, we leave behind a doorhanger with our info for people to reach out to us to record their voice or use us to help them find local nonprofit or government resources.
The area we're kicking off this project is in district 20, Maryland. By the end of us paying our first full-time canvasser the people of district 20 should have one of the most representative and informed set of representatives that exists in the U.S. In one year, that canvasser will create about 40 podcasts for representatives to listen to from the voices of their people.
With the canvasser you're helping hire, we could see if blending podcasts and canvassing can influence one set of representatives in the U.S. to create legislation that better reflects the needs of their constituents, without petitioning or changing any laws. If podcasting the voice of the people proves to be effective, we could spark a chain reaction-- a race between representatives, states, and local councils to use podcasting to immediately fill the lack of communication between the people and their representatives. A race fueled by representative's desires to stay relevant while their peer representatives come to better understand their constituents convenienty through their own podcasted voices.
Your donation does more than preventing democracy from ending at the ballot box though. Everyday Canvassing is one of the few doorknocking, stop-you-on-the-street, organizations that comes directly to people just to serve. So we don't ask for donations at the door, we ask if we can connect people to local nonprofits and government services. That way, we can take care of many people's problems as soon as possible, all while their voice is carried through a car's speaker, earbuds, phone, or laptop to their representative's ears.
What we'll use the funds for
Your donation will go to three things:
(1) $36,000 to hire our first full-time canvasser to knock doors, record, and podcast community stories, struggles, and joys to their representative
(2) $1,000 to purchase equipment (a few microphones for volunteers to record great audio with their phones) and software (to continue paying for our database called EveryAction that securely keeps addresses, names, and notes on people we meet and record)
(3) $3,000 to cushion us if there are unexpected costs that pop up.
Why we need the funds now
Before September 4th, 2019, Everyday Canvassing was funded through my savings account. But on September 4th, 2019, my savings account hit $1.00. My checkings account at $24.69.
On May 20th, Everyday Canvassing was founded by me. I live with my parents, so I was able to put $3,000 into Everyday Canvassing without worrying about being fed or having shelter. So we bought recorders, camera equipment, a year of website hosting and services, and custom shirts with policy buzzwords on them to trigger unexpecting residents when we ask them what problems they have that they'd like to share with their representatives. We paid for a database and app subscription to make sure we follow-up with people who need local nonprofit and government services. Now, Everyday Canvassing has $600 left, reserved for our nonprofit application for federal tax-exemption. And while I can continue living with my parents for free, if we're going to hire a new person to be our first full-time canvasser, they've got to be paid a living wage (and I don't have the money to pay them).
Up until this GoFundMe, I've been canvassing people, meeting with representatives to tell them about the people's podcast, and connecting with other nonprofits to conveniently bring democracy right to people's face and front doors. And since I'm the only one of our Everyday Canvassing team able to be a full-time volunteer, I also have to maintain the website, edit videos, manage money and relationships with nonprofits. We now have representatives who promised to listen to our podcast but just me to canvass and direct our organization. It's clear to me that I need a teammate who's able to canvass and podcast as their full-time role to make democracy as representative as we can here in district 20. That way, there are no missed days of canvassing when I have to play the role of finance manager or website updater for a day. I'll of course still be canvassing, so we'll actually record more than 2,652 people if we raise $40,000 (and that's not counting recordings volunteers collect)!
Why we started Everyday Canvassing (what youe support means to us)
In the summer of 2018, I was an organizer for a state senate campaign in Maryland. I loved my candidate but didn't like the feeling that I was deceiving the people who opened the door for me. I felt that I was selling my candidate as people's savior even though my candidate couldn't possibly know what people's problems were when they weren't in touch with even 10% of their constituents outside of election time. That summer I realized that people have a right to be cynical of their government, of voting and democracy. Afterall, I was both an actor at the doorstep and a voter.
But I also realized that we could turn the wasted potential to help people in those doorstep conversations into a government and a democracy that was worth trusting. (1) If representatives could hear all these people's words themselves they could be so much more aware of what their people wanted and how to get what their people wanted, especially if people's voices were consistently heard throughout their 4 year terms. And (2) we could do something about these problems people were communicating to me today.
When you donate to Everyday Canvassing's GoFundMe, you're also putting down hope. The same hope we have for a future government we don't have to feel cynical about. A government we honestly believe has our best interests in mind. A government that we can open the door to and trust to consider our issues and our happiness. A government that doesn't just come around during election time when it's convenient to represent us. A democracy that doesn't end at the ballot box. A democracy that is an ongoing relationship between constituents and their representatives.
Next weekend I'll put out an update about this fundraiser and the week of canvassing and podcasting creating. Thank you for supporting us and stay tuned for updates. One day, I hope we can knock your door.
- Tino and the Everyday Canvassing Team
