Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Life Re: TPM's Josh Marshall on Human Spam
Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, May 13, 2009 at 1:42 PM
Oh, nooooez! Josh Marshall and Dan Savage are miffed about people actualizing the progressive agenda they advocate for. If only the DNC hasn't fundraised on the streets of every American city in 2006 and 2008—with some success, if it needs pointing out—then life would have been more convenient. Why, those lowly activists aren't even people. They're "spam." Of course, if groups that Josh and Dan support weren't raising money, finding new members, and generally hustling their agenda... then certain bloggers could get upset.
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1
Walking home from work last night, near the QFC on Harrison, I actually saw someone veer toward the ACLU guys without any provocation. First time I'd ever seen someone stop to talk before being badgered.
I'm all for street activists and awareness building, but I don't like to be harassed into giving my support. Maybe aggressive works for some, but I know it turns me away from wanting to support them
I'm all for street activists and awareness building, but I don't like to be harassed into giving my support. Maybe aggressive works for some, but I know it turns me away from wanting to support them
3
Nobody's saying don't raise money. Nobody. It's that choosing to hustle quick money using human spam can alienate a lot of the kind of people who are prime candidates for the long-term donor base. It's not that human spam is just annoying, but that resorting to it may squelch long-term support.
There has to be a way to raise quick cash and flash-recruit that doesn't risk such a painful consequence down the road. Of course, I have no idea what that would be. Thank you very much.
There has to be a way to raise quick cash and flash-recruit that doesn't risk such a painful consequence down the road. Of course, I have no idea what that would be. Thank you very much.
5
I've canvassed and it was enough to convince me that it's a waste of time for everyone involved. Door to door is OK but street canvasing should be done away with.
7
Hey, guess what none of your comments have? Information!
I've worked quite a bit with canvassing orgs, in particular the DNC Canvass in '04, and I can tell you for a fact that canvassing brings in hundreds of thousands of new donors and trains thousands of young activists each cycle.
@5, the reason you think street canvassing is a waste of time is because YOU SUCK AT IT. A good canvasser makes it happen every time, every place.
If any of you ever bothered to look at some actual stats, you would grasp that progressive organizations do canvassing because IT'S A GOOD INVESTMENT. Honestly.
I've worked quite a bit with canvassing orgs, in particular the DNC Canvass in '04, and I can tell you for a fact that canvassing brings in hundreds of thousands of new donors and trains thousands of young activists each cycle.
@5, the reason you think street canvassing is a waste of time is because YOU SUCK AT IT. A good canvasser makes it happen every time, every place.
If any of you ever bothered to look at some actual stats, you would grasp that progressive organizations do canvassing because IT'S A GOOD INVESTMENT. Honestly.
8
A few months ago, a nice young lady signed me up for an ACLU membership outside of Safeway on 15th Ave.
It never occurred to me their next order of business may be protecting the 1st amendment rights of their solicitors from a bunch of whiny princesses with blogs. Kind of ironic.
It never occurred to me their next order of business may be protecting the 1st amendment rights of their solicitors from a bunch of whiny princesses with blogs. Kind of ironic.
10
My problem with canvassers is that many of them are not directly employed by the nonprofit. Frequently they're working for a fundraising company that skims a large part of donations off the top. Fundraising over the phone suffers from the same problem.
However, street fundraising is effective otherwise it wouldn't be done. And anyone in Seattle complaining about it really needs to shut up. At least you can get away from it. In NYC, there's street spam for just about everything you can think of: comedy shows, salons, antacids, nonprofits, and crackpots. It's impossible to avoid it unless you're a millionaire who can afford your own car and driver.
However, street fundraising is effective otherwise it wouldn't be done. And anyone in Seattle complaining about it really needs to shut up. At least you can get away from it. In NYC, there's street spam for just about everything you can think of: comedy shows, salons, antacids, nonprofits, and crackpots. It's impossible to avoid it unless you're a millionaire who can afford your own car and driver.
11
"people actualizing the progressive agenda"
yeah, that sounds like a hoot; the revolution will be brought to you in warm fuzzy focus group hug corporate-speak.
yeah, that sounds like a hoot; the revolution will be brought to you in warm fuzzy focus group hug corporate-speak.
13
Human spam is right!
They make walking to work stressful for me. They make me angry, and I don't think that I should have to survive a gauntlet of Green Peace or Children International clipboards to get to work every day. If they set up a table and stayed behind it, fine. But they don't. They try to shake my hand. They do stupid tricks. They pout when I say no. They make me feel bad. It's not fair. They need to go away!
They make walking to work stressful for me. They make me angry, and I don't think that I should have to survive a gauntlet of Green Peace or Children International clipboards to get to work every day. If they set up a table and stayed behind it, fine. But they don't. They try to shake my hand. They do stupid tricks. They pout when I say no. They make me feel bad. It's not fair. They need to go away!
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