Grassroots Campaigns, Inc.

Infobox Organization
name = Grassroots Campaigns, Inc.


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formation = 2003
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type = Advocacy organization
headquarters = Boston, MA
location = Atlanta, GA
Austin, TX
Berkeley, CA
Boston, MA
Chicago, IL
Columbus, OH
Denver, CO
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY
Philadelphia, PA
Portland, OR
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
membership =
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leader_title = Founde|leader_name = Douglas Phelps
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website = [http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com grassrootscampaigns.com]

Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. (GCI) is an independent organization that does strategic consulting, fund raising, and field organizing for causes and candidates. GCI provides thousands of workers to solicit donations in neighborhoods and in high-traffic public venues to build support for political groups, issues, and campaigns. Headquartered in Boston Massachusetts, the company was founded in December 2003 by high level staff members of the Public Interest Research Group as a for-profit commercial enterprise.

History

By April 2004 Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. had opened offices in 40 cities throughout the country. By July 2004 they had over 2,000 staff knocking on doors and fund raising on behalf of the Democratic National Committee. With continued work on behalf of MoveOn PAC in October 2004, they added 50,000 individuals canvassing their neighborhoods in 17 of the most contested swing states of the 2004 Presidential Election. Grassroots Campaigns was also very involved in the 2006 mid-term Elections with over 120 employees doing Get Out the Vote phone banking in nearly 40 offices nationwide.

Current work

According to Grassroots Campaign's website, they have been working to stop many of the policies supported by Republicans in Congress and in the White House since 2004.Fact|date=July 2008 They say they played a part in the House and Senate elections in 2006 and have supported candidates and organizations that could effect policies regarding the war in Iraq, education, health care, and energy. In 2004 GCI was hired by MoveOn's PAC to run "Leave No Voter Behind," (LNVB). This was a "get out the vote" (GOTV) program intended to give Democratic candidate John Kerry an edge in the swing states.

GCI/MoveOn hired Approximately 500 field organizers to go to roughly 20 swing states from shortly after Labor Day until the day following the election. Those hired were required to spend approximately 14 hours a day, 7 days a week in the field offices for gross pay of $500 per week. Staff retention problems were reported throughout the designated states. In the Cleveland office alone over one third of the original 25 organizers quit. Prior to working in field offices most of the organizers were required to complete an unpaid training period, which consisted of collecting money for the Democratic National Committee on streets and by going door-to-door. Once in their assigned field offices, organizers recruited volunteers by phone to become "precinct leaders," to work get out the vote in their own neighborhoods. It has been reported by organizers from at least half of the states including Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Florida that many precinct leaders dropped out of the program primarily due to frustration with the software system, known as the "WAC" created for this project. Because the "WAC" had completely failed it was scrapped and organizers had to use an emergency Excel program. Following the 2004 election, Move On/GCI claimed credit for turning out thousands of additional voters. However these voters whose names were drawn from general board of election databases were being simultaneously contacted by other organizations including America Coming Together, or ACT, a PAC created by Service Employees International Union (SEIU). In several instances it was alleged that MoveOn/Grassroots Inc would not coordinate with ACT though it was and still is legal for PACs to share information. (Federal election law prohibits official campaigns and political parties from collaborating with PACs.) There were several PACs in the field in 2004 and while coordination might have prevented duplication of voter contacts, data on voter turnout indicate that turnout increases with the number of voter contacts. Therefore it can be said that all of the PACs in the field contributed to voter turnout, and that GCI/MoveOn's numeric claims can not be substantiated.

GCI says they continue to partner with the Democratic National Committee to run canvass operations, get more people involved in the party, and raise money. They say they are continuing to work with MoveOn.org Political Action.

Past and current clients

* Democratic National Committee
* MoveOn.org Political Action
* American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
* Sierra Club
* Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
* Center for American Progress
* Working America
* People For the American Way
* Forests Forever
* Common Cause
* ACORN
* Amnesty International
* The Media Fund
* Pennsylvania Coordinated Campaign
* Washington Coordinated Campaign
* Yes on C&D (Colorado Referendums)
* Save the Children

Lawsuits

California

In 2006, GCI was sued for overtime wage violations for allegedly working its staff 14-hours a day. The suit, filed in federal court in San Francisco in 2006, accused Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. of overworking mostly college students long hours, seven days a week gathering petition signatures and donations for Democratic candidates and groups like Moveon.org. "It's ironic that a company that bills itself as a champion of the progressive movement would treat its own employees so badly," said Robert S. Nelson, of the Nelson Law Group, a San Bruno, California firm that filed the class action on behalf of at least a half-dozen former employees. [http://www.law.com National Law Journal] , 7/17/07]

Oregon

Fourteen students sued Grassroots Campaigns Inc. for wages they claim the nationwide contractor for the Democratic National Committee owed them for their local work as canvassers in 2004 for the failed John Kerry campaign. According to the complaint filed in August 2006 in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Grassroots paid the students the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, instead of Oregon's then-minimum wage of $7.05 an hour. The suit seeks the wages each student is owed, plus a $1,692 penalty per student. Grassroots national canvas director Wes Jones says the students were paid properly and legally. ( [http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3246/8010/ Willamette Week] , 9/20/06) This case was dismissed on August 2, 2007 after a settlement was reached by both parties. [http://www.orcourtsonline.com/ Oregon Courts Online] , subscription needed to access court records]

Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. Leadership Staff

*Founder: Douglas Phelps
*Vice President and National Canvass Director: Wes Jones
*Vice President: Sue Moran
*Chief Financial Officer: Hyam Kramer
*National Field Director: Jon Scarlett
*National Field Director & Director of the Progressive Voter Network: Clayt Freed
*Lead Organizer: Erin Casey
*Lead Organizer: Merriah Fairchild
*Finance Director : Bill Sprong
*Recruitment Director : Lindsay Harkins
*Recruitment Department : Sarah Marini
*Regional Director : Sarah Hazel
*Regional Director & Client Services : Robert Peek
*Regional Director : Karla Pippa
*National Central Staff : Amanda Meier
*Regional Director : Meg Ahearn
*Regional Director : Steve King
*Regional Director : David Hackman
*Regional Director : Patrick Stearns
*Lead Organizer : Josh Downey
*Field Organizer : Mike Batchelder

Further reading

*Fisher, Dana. "Activism, Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Grassroots Campaigns Is Strangling Progressive Politics in America", Stanford University Press, 2006 ISBN 978-0804752176

*Peter Levine, President of [http://www.civicyouth.com/ CIRCLE] (The Center for Investigative Research on Civic Learning and Engagement), whose endorsement appears on Activism, Inc. [http://www.peterlevine.ws/mt/archives/000926.html retracts] it on his blog.

*Randy Shaw's critique of Activism, Inc. from [http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/Has_the_Left_Been_Outsourced__3863.html BeyondChron] .
* [http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=11993 "The Activism Industry," The American Prospect, 09/04/2006]

See also

* Canvassing
* Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
* Fund for Public Interest Research
* Fundraising
* U.S. presidential election, 2004
* Political campaigns
* Activism
* Politics

References

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/26/nyregion/thecity/26soli.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1192723211-CRiHyVsMn21WhF+2RnbNq New York Times (8/26/07)] article on canvassing
* [http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/7/19/102926.shtml Williams, Armstrong. "Democratic Contractor Breaks Labor Laws", Newsmax.com, 7/19/07]
* [http://quest.law.com/Search/Search.do?Ntt=DNC+fundraising+group+sued+for+wage+violations&Nty=1&Ntk=SI_All&cx=1&TYPE=1&sortVar=1&fmm=&fdd=&fyy=&tmm=&tdd=&tyy=&x=34&y=17 MacLean, Pamela. "DNC fundraising group sued for wage violations", National Law Journal, 7/17/07]
*Scott, Gary. "Former Grassroots Canvasser Sues Employer Over Wages", [http://www.dailyjournal.com Daily Journal] , 7/11/07
* [http://www.wweek.com/editorial/3246/8010/ Editorial Staff. "14 Students Sue Grassroots Campaigns", Willamette Week, 9/20/06]
* [http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i04/04a01401.htm Glenn, David. "Scorching the Grass Roots?", The Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/15/06]
* [http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=2098 Lueders, Bill. "Canvassers have had enough: Dem-hired outfit pays sub-minimum wages to push for higher", The Daily Page, 8/31/06]
* [http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/05/161432_comment.php Rosa, Erin. "When Liberal Non-Profits Exploit: LA Workers Are Fighting For Their Rights", Los Angeles Independent Media Center, 5/31/06]
* [http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2005/05/17/17380331.php Gangale, Thomas. "Slaving for the Progressives", San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center, 5/17/05]
* [http://www.slate.com/id/2107490/ Popp, Trey. "Are the Democrats Buying Votes? For-profit canvassing: the DNC's secret weapon", Slate, 9/30/04]
* [http://media.www.browndailyherald.com/media/storage/paper472/news/2004/07/16/CampusNews/In.The.Field.And.Office.Students.Devote.Summers.To.Campaigning-707341.shtml Clark, Stephanie. "In the field and office, students devote summers to campaigning", The Brown Daily Herald, 7/16/04]
* [http://www.altweeklies.com/gyrobase/AltWeeklies/Story?oid=oid%3A136188 Resmer, Cathy. "McCanvassing? DNC Wages a “Grassroots” Campaign in Vermont", Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, 6/16/04]

External links

* [http://www.grassrootscampaigns.com Grassroots Campaigns, Inc. official website]