Statewide Organizer

Overview

FairVote Illinois, a volunteer-driven statewide 501(c)(3) organization that advocates for ranked choice voting, is looking for a full-time Statewide Organizer to work on the front lines of a transformative campaign to upgrade Illinois’ voting system to ranked choice voting (RCV).

Hiring and supervision will be managed by Rank the Vote, which is a national grassroots organization founded by local RCV activists.

 

This Organizer will be a part of the team to win RCV in Illinois by being responsible for increasing visibility and winning majority voter support for the RCV movement locally. They will conduct smart and compelling campaigns across digital platforms and in person to drive volunteer engagement, grow the supporter base, gain endorsements, and develop grassroots fundraising. Working hand-in-hand with statewide grassroots leaders, the Organizer will harness tools to help drive success at local events and actions, train activists on organizing techniques, and reach growth goals to win RCV for Illinois.

 

Responsibilities

  • Field: Work closely with the statewide organizing team to establish operational priorities and meet aggressive weekly and monthly goals for scheduled and ad hoc voter outreach. Manage, develop and support a field team to grow the volunteer and donor base. Canvass weekly, hitting monthly target goals to grow a supporter list.
  • Volunteer Management: Develop meaningful activities for volunteers that contribute to the campaign’s strategic goals. Implement a system for recruitment and training of volunteers. Develop repeatable, trainable processes to boost engagement, online and over the phone, so as to drive turnout for events. Communicate status updates and action items to local RCV supporters. Work closely with volunteer leaders to ensure they are executing movement methods effectively. Train volunteer leaders in relationship, coalition, and organizational building tactics and strategies. Develop and maintain relations with national/state/regional volunteer groups in the electoral reform space. Devise a system for thanking and/or rewarding super-volunteers. Conduct coaching sessions on all aspects of movement methods: from how to run an effective meeting, how to inspire a recruit to action, to how to set up and maintain organizational systems and technology platforms.
  • Administrative Operations: Perform operational and strategic planning, training, and administrative duties as needed. Where appropriate, delegate responsibilities to volunteer leaders, inspiring them to act and ensuring the tasks are completed. Develop movement-building plans with leadership including quantitative benchmarks, goals, deliverables, etc. Empower regional field, communication, and fundraising volunteers. Develop and maintain systems to count and measure field-based activities, as well as reporting for all teams.

 

As Needed

  • Communications: Drive communications across email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media channels to educate the electorate about RCV while minimizing opposition. Develop creative strategies and messaging concepts to drive support of RCV that is compelling, timely, and aligned with public polling results and the current news cycle. Create and post news and other content for the website.
  • Endorsements/Strategic Partnerships: Cultivate, build, and manage relationships with elected officials, key public figures, and allied organizations for partnerships and social media amplification. Develop and utilize a system for tracking the stances of key operatives. 
  • Fundraising: Recruit hosts for house parties, on Zoom and in-person, and coordinate invitations. Perform online targeting and list segmentation for ads on social media and other channels. Run phonebanks to dial for dollars/calltime. Cultivate relationships with major donors. Apply for grants. 

 

Qualifications

  • Essential Experience: 1-6+ years campaign / organizing experience. Personnel / volunteer management experience. Excellent public speaking and meeting facilitation skills. Written communication skills. Experience with metrics-based capacity growth and goal-setting and moving volunteers from online to offline direct actions.
  • Preferred Experience: Experience boosting diversity in organizations. Volunteer training and management experience for 1-6+ years. Lobbying / advocacy experience for issue(s). Mastery of social media platforms. Prior grassroots fundraising experience. List-building and fundraising experience is a plus for issues or candidates.
  • Goal Setting/Achievement: Show planned/achieved goals and tracked metrics/accomplishments from past campaign or advocacy work.
  • Tech skills: Preferred experience in campaign platforms such as NationBuilder, Slack, NGP VAN/VoteBuilder, MiniVan, OpenVPB, CallHub, Hustle, Relay, GroundGame, EveryAction, GetThru, MobilizeAmerica, Reach, OutVote, Google Suite, Basecamp, and other web-based campaign software and apps. 
  • Characteristics:  Understanding of the Illinois political landscape and the Evanston area in particular. Passion for RCV and a commitment to continued learning, drive, vision, obsessive attention to detail, proven leadership, an unwavering positive attitude and good humor, an eagerness to receive feedback and course-correct. Adherence to an ethos of non-partisan public relations and messaging, including engagement with individuals from a broad spectrum of political views. Exceptional people skills and emotional intelligence.
  • Timing: Must be available on evenings and weekends to ensure maximum engagement with volunteers and leaders. Should be open to full time work (i.e., not in school).
  • Location: Remote/work from home based in the Chicago area with a current focus on Evanston.
  • Travel: Must be available to travel up to 50% of paid time within Illinois to assist state volunteers on an in-person basis. During the pandemic, we have primarily worked remotely 90% of the time. We would like to move towards more traditional, grassroots, direct, in person organizing, as public health conditions allow. Any travel that requires you to be away from home overnight, or significantly outside of the Chicago area, will be reimbursed according to the current IRS mileage, lodging and per diem rates and rules.
  • Language: Spanish speaking proficiency a plus

 

Schedule

Full-Time (Many evenings and weekends required). 

 

Compensation and Contract terms

This is a full-time salaried position at $50,000-55,000 depending on experience. Benefits include short term & long term disability, healthcare, 401K and 29 days of PTO/floating holidays. Part-time option possible for the right candidate.

 

How to Apply

Send your resume and cover letter to [email protected]

 

 

To learn more about us, visit https://www.fairvoteillinois.org/ and https://rankthevote.us/

Rank the Vote provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, or military or veteran status in accordance with all applicable laws. We don’t tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of the above. We're committed to building a diverse leadership team. Women, people of color, and members of other historically underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.