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Report: #584973

Complaint Review: Grassroots Campaigns Inc - Boston Massachusetts

  • Submitted:
  • Updated:
  • Reported By: Terrorfied — Tucson Arizona United States of America
  • Author Not Confirmed What's this?
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  • Grassroots Campaigns Inc 59 Temple Place Ste 402 Boston, Massachusetts United States of America

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August, 2008:

The Setup:  Meet for an interview with a campaign director, memorize their script soliciting donations for the Democratic National Committee (very similar to cold-call telemarketing, except it's hot and you're walking door-to-door), go to every house in a given neighborhood and try to raise some odd amount of money ($60 - $120, I forget exactly how much) within 3 days, then they hire you on as a full-time staff member.

The Catch:  They're not actually raising money for the DNC, so they weren't exactly interested in my success.  They were profiling neighborhoods on behalf of whoever paid them.  The City Treasurer for Westlake Village saw us walking down the street in our DNC shirts, screeched his car to a halt, and told us that we were in a heavily Republican district and we were wasting our time.  The whole evening I had been wondering why they had sent us to such an obviously conservative district to write down the political leanings of each household, when clearly it would earn them no money.  My aunt had canvassed before and told me that canvassing organizations will send you to the doors of previous donors who would be likely to donate, and would not waste my time with Republican households.  The treasurer confirmed my suspicions.  The money you earn is basically your paycheck so that you can continue profiling houses, so that they can sell the information to... whoever.  Maybe the DNC, maybe someone else.

The RipOff:  So after two days of raising no money from Republicans, I decided to opt-out of my third day and stick with the job I already had in AZ.  They owed me $59.63 for my work.  I had forgotten about the check, until January of 2009 when they mailed me a W-2.  I had to wonder at that, as I had never been paid and didn't anticipate ever being paid.  However about two weeks later I received the paycheck for $59.63.  It bounced.

My Contention:  I don't care about the money, but now I'm annoyed that I have to go through the tax BS to prove that I never received money in the State of Oregon.  I understand that many of their employees are semi-transient temps, but I've had the same PO Box for the last 6 years.

The Moral:  Don't bank your future on fly-by-night non-profits listed on Craigslist (but I should have known that already!).  I can only imagine what catastrophe would have ensued if I had quit my legitimate job in AZ and moved to Portland for these guys.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/24/2010 11:19 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/grassroots-campaigns-inc/boston-massachusetts-02111/grassroots-campaigns-inc-never-paid-me-in-oregon-boston-massachusetts-584973. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
1Author
2Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#3 Author of original report

Lydia, what part of this are you missing?

AUTHOR: Terrorfied - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, July 09, 2012

The position is the physical equivalent to cold-call telemarketing, and in my case the purpose of "canvassing" was to profile the political leanings of households on behalf of the DNC.  Whatever, I'm over it.  It's a capitalist society, everyone has solicitors.  The part that bothers me is where I GOT THE CHECK AFTER THE W2, AND THEN IT BOUNCED, so I had to spend a few hours between IRS and Grassroots HR regarding a relatively trivial amount of money in order to have my tax status clear.  

As I recall I finally received and cashed a *valid* check from GRC nearly a year after the work, and only after calling the IRS.   Perhaps your experience was different; but to me, the other canvassers, and the treasurer of West Linn, GRC assignments seemed somewhat arbitrary and completely unrealistic.  Between that and their accounting issues, yeah, they're kind of a Ripoff.

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#2 Consumer Comment

That is False

AUTHOR: Anthony - (USA)

POSTED: Monday, July 09, 2012

Lydia you're way off base here as to what Grassroots Campaign Initiative does is essentially engage in panhandling. When your organization trains "canvassers" to stand in front of a Trader Joe's or a Target and pester customers for money you are engaging in Panhandling 101. It is not a real job. And the turnover rate for workers in Grassroots is extremely high, with the average worker lasting a mere two weeks before they are either forced to quit or are fired because they aren't raising enough money. The average workweek is 70-80 hours per week, seven days a week, and a canvasser gets paid $300 per week. That is not even minimum wage. You didn't mention that in your rebuttal. You also forgot to mention the rampant union busting which goes on in Grassroots Campaign amongst its own workers. And your industry isn't relatively "new" it's been around for thirty years. You are correct that the check is ready to be picked up within 72 hours but the actual cashing of the check in the bank and whether there are sufficient enough funds is something you didn't mention in your rebuttal. Try to be honest next time you post a rebuttal.

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#1 UPDATE EX-employee responds

From a former field manager of GCI

AUTHOR: lydia - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I worked as a Field Manager for the Los Angeles Street Team this summer, and only quit to move out of Los Angeles for school. Many of my co-workers are still there. 

Every "site" you go to is a site where people have raised a good amount of money (sometimes $200, sometimes $500, and on occasion $1000), especially when its your trial period. We want more people to make staff. When more people are on staff, we can cover more ground, especially for something that is political. Obviously the more canvassers the DNC has, the louder we are, and the more funds and awareness we can raise.

The minimum quota is enough to make it worth having you on staff, and if the people you canvass care about the organization and not just "helping out some kid", then they will be glad to have talked to you and started their relationship with the DNC. They will look forward to being updated via email, phone calls, or mailers.

The group that I canvassed for was Save The Children, and canvassers accounted for 50% of their new child sponsors, so it's extremely effective.

When we recruit you, we aren't looking to "use you" to "collect data", we are giving you an opportunity to be a part of a movement, making America more aware of world problems and providing a solution. It means that we liked you and thought that you had something to contribute.

It's a hard job, so there is a high turnover rate, but once someone doesn't make quota, the check is ready to be picked up in 72 hours or maybe less. I imagine they were waiting for you to pick it up, and when they got your W2, they checked to see if you ever collected your paycheck and then proceeded to mail them both out. 

They are a relatively new industry, and always becoming more efficient.  I'm sure that they mail them out sooner by now. In our office, they were very efficient about payroll.

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