Fundraising for Social Change, 8th Edition

chapter NINETEENDoor‐to‐Door and Street Canvassing

Canvassing is a technique that involves a team of people from your organization going door to door or standing on the street requesting contributions for your organization's work. Some organizations also canvass by phone. Most of the principles in this chapter as well as those in Chapter Sixteen on using the telephone apply to phone canvassing. However, this chapter is focused on face‐to‐face interactions with strangers that characterize street and door‐to‐door canvasses. Almost all canvassing was suspended during the COVID lockdown, and many wondered what the fate of this strategy would be once enough people were vaccinated for all of us to be out and about more. Organizations that are bringing back their canvass are generally finding that they are reaching more people and raising more money than they did prior to the pandemic. Many people are still working remotely, meaning that they are home. If the canvasser wears a mask and observes whatever protocols are in place, they find people open to hearing about their organization. A decision to start or restart a canvass should not be taken lightly, as this is a difficult strategy with high staff turnover; however, it is still working and will be effective for organizations that use it properly.

Canvassing is most successful for well‐known state or national nonprofits (or their local chapters) or for local organizations working on an issue likely to be familiar to the people being ...