You Can Get Paid to Have Nice, Informal Conversations with Friends About Voting

Sometimes, trying to get people to vote can feel like an uphill battle. Between annoying texts and disinformation campaigns, it's no wonder that get-out-the-vote drives sometimes seem doomed to fail. But Relentless, a progressive organizing group, thinks they've found a new way to approach it: by paying everyday people like you and me to have casual, friendly conversations with our friends about voting.

In Tonya Williams' family in Mississippi, they've always been big on voting. But last year, Williams' uncle casually mentioned that he hadn't voted in several years. Williams was floored. "We don't miss elections," she recalls telling him. "We will go. If you need a ride, we will go pick you up and take you to the polls."

So, if you're the sort of person who likes to chat with friends and family about what's going on in the world, and you think you could help encourage others to get involved in the voting process, then consider signing up with Relentless. They're looking for regular folks just like you to talk to your friends about voting, and they'll even pay you for your time and effort. It's a win-win!

Relentless, a relational organizing progressive group that mobilizes people like Williams to reach family members by just knocking on the door.

The organization Relentless began promoting relational organizing out of the 2022 election, and — among other things — will pay participants in their program a $200 stipend to turn people to vote this year as part of a $10.8 million initiative. The program's organizers say they intend to develop a network of over 2 million voters in seven battleground states that includes Arizona, Pennsylvania as well as Wisconsin.

“Relational undefined organizations like Relentless are banking on the idea that connecting with people through mutual interests and trusted connections is the key to cutting through the noise of political messaging. By harnessing the power of personal networks, they aim to provide accurate information and build support for candidates in an age of widespread disinformation.

The group, which was involved in last year's Democratic organizing efforts, is now focusing on the upcoming midterm elections. They recruit volunteers like Williams, who participated in their program last year, to reach out to their personal contacts and share information about voting. The goal is to create a grassroots movement built on trust and shared values.

This approach to political organizing isn't new, but it is becoming increasingly important as voters become more skeptical of traditional campaign methods. From state parties to local elections and even presidential campaigns, organizations across the political spectrum are recognizing the value of relational organizing. The Biden campaign hired its own team of relational organizers in 2020, and the GOP has begun to adopt similar tactics as well.

As we head into another election season, the battle for voters' attention and trust will continue to intensify. Relational organizing provides a promising solution for candidates and parties looking to make a genuine connection with voters and inspire them to take action at the ballot box. Only time will tell if these efforts will be enough to overcome the challenges facing our democratic process in the years ahead."

In 2022, political texts were all over the place, you know? Like, I was getting so many messages from politicians on my phone, it was ridiculous! I mean, I think I got about 15 billion of them, if you can believe that. And I'm not even that into politics, really.

Anyway, a lot of people were confused or worried about the stuff they were seeing in those texts and emails. A recent poll by the Bipartisan Policy Center found that more than 70 percent of voters were concerned about misleading election information. Can you imagine? That many people not know what to believe? It's rather scary if you think about it.

But some folks are trying to do something about it, like Ben Wikler, the chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party. He says that relational organizing is the key to cutting through all that noise and helping people make sense of things. It's about actually talking to people, you know? Like having real conversations with your friends and family about what matters most to you, even if it means voting for someone you don't usually vote for.

There's a group called Relentless that's really into this idea. They use an app called Rally to keep track of all their contacts and interactions with people. They can post memes, send texts, and even plan parties or events together, as long as it's all about getting the word out about voting. One of their members, a woman named Williams, says it helped her talk to people in her community about voting in Mississippi.

Yeah, even local elections and stuff are getting more attention these days. It's not just the big names like Biden anymore. People are realizing that every vote counts, no matter where it is or who it's for. So if you haven't been paying attention to politics before, maybe it's time to start. And if you don't know where to begin, maybe try talking to someone you trust about it. You never know, you might just learn something new.

Last November, Joe Biden's team realized they needed to reach out to voters in places like Arizona who felt disconnected from politics. They hired a special team of relational organizers who managed to connect with around 60% of these folks that hadn't been contacted since the last election, according to The Washington Post.

It's not just Biden's campaign that's catching on to this strategy. Other campaigns and political groups have been adopting relational organizing for a while now. When Mia Leonard worked for Jon Ossoff's campaign in Georgia in 2022, they tested out this approach and managed to build a network of 160,000 voters in less than a month! The Pete Buttigieg campaign in 2020 also credited their success in Iowa to this kind of organizing.

It's not just the Democrats who are using relational organizing these days. The Republican Party is starting to get in on the action too. Turning Point Action, which is linked to the conservative youth group Turning Point USA, is developing an app that allows volunteers to share their contact lists and reach out to friends about elections. This shows that the GOP is realizing they can reach more people through faith-based communities and other networks.

"We know that there's a big portion of the right that does a lot of outreach to faith institutions," says Han. "They're doing relational organizing within the context of a network of people embedded within a shared institution."

Groups like Relentless are even looking beyond traditional religious and political groups, betting that places like private Discord servers, group texts, and concerts could be the next big thing in political marketing.

"People know best how to talk to their friends," says Leonard. "That's why relational organizing works. It's about empowering everyday people to have those conversations and make a difference."