canvasser

organizer

non-profit representative

community organizer

environmental advocate

Clean Water Action

It's disappointing reading some of the negative reviews on this site.  My experience with Clean Water has been the opposite of what I've seen in some of the opinions expressed here.  I've been doing the organizing work here for a long time, and it is true that we are out in communities and that fundraising is a major part of the job.  I've never found this to be an issue though - all non-profits have to do fundraising, and I'd rather our funds come from citizens who support the work than from corporations who might try to steer the organization in the wrong direction.  And we do so much more than raising funds at the door - our supporters are able to write letters to lawmakers, learn about candidates for election with strong environmental records, volunteer, come to events, sign up for beach clean-ups, etc.  We are truly empowering people every day to make a real difference in their lives, and in Michigan.  

We do have fundraising goals that need to be met, along with goals for all the other aspects of the work we do every day, but I have never felt that those goals were unclear.  At the end of the first interview, I received a sheet of paper that outlined exactly what the job entailed.  Once I was hired, I received an employee handbook that outlined the goals, the pay, and the benefits very clearly.  All employees sign a form saying that they have read through this information, so if someone felt there was a surprise about goals or expectations, I would attribute that to their own lack of attention to the handbook.  But, in addition to all that, I also received good information about what the goals were and how the pay worked in my second interview and throughout the training process.  

Of all the things I enjoy about working at Clean Water Action, I'd say the top two are the people I work with everyday, and seeing our work come to fruition with strong victories on our issues.  The rest of the staff, from new folks to managers, are open-minded, positive, and helpful.  They make work fun every day.  And I've seen us win many victories on issues from water withdrawals from the Great Lakes to renewable energy.  It's amazing to put in a lot of hard work at a job and truly see a positive result come out of it.

I worked here as a phone canvasser for 2 days. I'm not one to quit early, but this place was causing me a great deal of stress. I was hired a few months prior to my start date due to my schedule, and discontinued my job search. I'm a college student, so having a steady job to look forward to heading into my next semester was exciting for me. 
On my first night, I noticed that they were training a great deal of others as well. It didn't catch on until the second night that they hired anyone who walked through the door, only to keep who were able to stay afloat. I needed to raise $60 in my first three nights or I'd be let go. I was not informed about this at my time of hire. 
I spent those two nights calling and calling, listening to answering machines, and growing more and more anxious. I made approximately 200 calls in those two nights, only really speaking to about 4 individuals. I was given a list of numbers that had repeatedly gone to voicemail for months. The manager in front of me, however, was taking call after call of long time members who were giving hundreds of dollars. I felt like I was set up to fail.
As for the ones I did speak to, I got them to be politically involved, but that's not what was important to the management. To them, a call without a donation was unacceptable. I talked to a man who was losing his house and his wife was dying, so he was unable to give, and I let him go without a hassle. My manager tried to tell me that I went about that wrong and that I should have fought. 
I left there pretty much in tears on that second night because I was so desperate to get this $60, and then what? I could lose the job any other time because of a bad night, so I figured quitting then was my best option. 
I was upset because their issues and politics are very important to me and I wish this would have been a better experience. 
I haven't been paid yet, but they said my check is in the mail so fingers crossed!

I was hired as an Activist for the Summer of 2011. I was told I would be doing campaign work, strategizing, doing basic research, helping fundraising -- basically everything a Political Science major wants in summer work.

I went on the interview day, and we did the door-to-door fundraising. We discussed what CWA was, what its goals were, and I familiarized myself with their general pitch. 

It was very clear that this was NOT going to be even the majority of the work I did there. I knew I would not excel at door-to-door salesmanship, but I still I wanted to work there for the other facets of the non-profit work, so I accepted.

The door-to-door sales (fundraising) ended up being nearly 100% of my job (one day I spent 15 minutes putting up fliers). I didn't meet fundraising goals, and I was let go after 5 fundraising days.

The training for this job quite frankly is pretty terrible. The materials were unfocused, and the in-person training was mostly useless. They were trying to help, but these aren't professional trainers, they are professional door-to-door fundraisers.


I don't blame them for my failings at fundraising. I blame them for deceiving me into a job that didn't fit my skillset. I also blame them for not giving me nearly enough advance notice as far as letting me go. On Day 4 I was told if I didn't meet a certain fundraising quota on Day 5, I would be let go. Seems rather arbitrary.
 
I know cycling through fundraisers is part of their business model, but  the way CWA's management describes how they hire and manage employees vs. how they actually do is a massive difference.

rating two stars on some things because I can't make a valid judgment.

Went on the field interview, and had to go door to door for 8 hours less transport. The guy I worked with was super pushy to people and made me feel uncomfortable being associated with his lack of class. I don't feel good going to nice Palo Alto homes and watching this fool hand off his clipboard and then refuse to take it back! by the end of the shift I wanted to slap this clown in the face for his lack of manners. I think he had convinced himself he was entitled to their money?? In that span of time he kicked over a ladies pumpkin and also didn't give a care when this ladies cat escaped without her seeing because she refused him a glass of water after being a pushy tosser.

Did it solo for a few hours and it was...a little better? Still sucked. Also, I studied environmental science and the pitch my trainer used about fracking was wrong and alarmist. What an idiot. Maybe if I was stupid I would actually believe that pitch, but this organization completely takes a biased and one-sided approach. It is proven that it is more influential to account for both sides of the argument and then use logic to win. The shale in California is wayyyy deeper than any aquifer. I studied fracking in university, and was offended and surprised that I was expected to spout borderline BS to solicit money...

All this for minimum wage!! (In S.F. that is).

However, unlike the person above, I DID get paid $22 for those 2 hours of solo canvass. I actually only did one hour. So kudos to CWA for being honest.

I was told that this job was an internship and I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I wasn't alone in this assumption. During the summer there were around 50 interns that moved in and out of employment in a rapidly shifting revolving door. I arrived with a group of around 5-7 interns and we all became very close. However, within three weeks I was the last person from this original group left and took a higher paying position with much lower stress. This job has weekly and monthly quotas of money you need to raise door-to-door if you do not meet these quotas you will be quickly "cycled out". That being said, the people at this job are amazing, genuinely some of the best human beings I have ever met and they make every effort to ensure everyone feels included. I made many friends here and learned a lot about fundraising and the political process. Clean Water Action as an organization is also generally very deserving of your time and skills they win most of the battles they take on and don't give up. However, upon after canvassing with another organization I have also come to realize that there are simply canvassing organizations that are better run and have higher appreciation for the VERY difficult emotional, social and physical work that  canvassers do. If you've never canvassed before and are looking for an easy stable internship this is not for you but if you're looking for a stepping stone to other social justice positions/ are wildly good at separating people from their money within 10 minutes of meeting you it works.C

Everyone you work with are such friendly people and you’ll make awesome relationships here which makes going door to door asking for money bearable. 

You know the donations are for a good cause but it can still be a real drag having to collect money door to door and deal with a bunch of jerks when you have a quota to make. If you have a bad week you’re putting your job at risk so job security isn’t good here. Lots of people come and go whether voluntarily or not. Managers may say that it’s the canvasser and not the neighborhood but it’s certainly largely the neighborhood. It’s hard to show your skills as a canvasser if you get a door slammed in your face every time you say you’re from Clean Water Action. 

That being said it’s a great place to work overall if you don’t mind canvassing and know how to deal with all kinds of people, especially for a summer job for a college student like myself. I’ll take this over fast food and retail any day. Atleast I’m making a difference here, the atmosphere is awesome, and I get to explore cool NJ towns. All in all, really not a bad job at all. I just don’t know how some people can do this for so long that do work there for more than summers AND maintain the awesome attitudes that they all have.

I would avoid this company at all costs. They do not train you, they throw you out onto the streets (literally) without telling very much about their mission. 

The entire job is door to door canvasing for donations. 

To be honest, I am not sure if it is even legal to do what they are doing. While you do get a nice base salary, you get bonuses for how much you get people to donate.

If you aren't able to reach their daily goals, they fire you in a week. It is not a reliable internship, and they do not care if you moved to the city specifically for this internship. They cycle through over 30 new interns PER WEEK because of their high standards that they do not explain in the interview process.

One trick they have is they get the more experienced people who made it past orientation to talk to the repeat donors because they have "a special script for them". So you will be knocking on people's door who have probably refused before, while others will be talking to people who have donated in the past.

Unless you are extremely confident in your sales tactics as a 19-22 year old, I would stay far away from this "internship"

Clean water action is the most disorganized, high expectation workplace that has no beneficial way to go about solving the issues they speak about. I worked there and was fired while I was on sick leave. I understand the right to fire anyone for any reason at anytime but it’s truly devious to fire an employee during an excused sick absence. 

I came in a day early after being sick and the company was closed for a holiday and the manager told me ‘sorry we didn’t tell you we were closed today, but we’ll see you tomorrow’ mind you this is after they told me to return on that day. Then when I woke up the next day to come in they told me they were letting me go. 

They expect too much, have no follow through, and don’t tell their team or the people at the door what exactly they are doing with the money they collect. They say it goes toward the cause but only a small percent actually does and they don’t explain how that percent is spent ‘for the cause’. 

Horrible work place, horrible organization, and probably the worst non-profit I’ve ever seen. The only good thing they did was assist in gettin the clean water act passed and that was back in 1972.  

Work starts at 2PM. Normally there is a brief meeting and then lunch in the office (pack your own or take-out) until 3-3:30. After lunch everyone walks to the vehicle and you drive out to the area you're going to canvass.

You walk door to door and tell people what the organization is doing and why we need them to join, donate, and participate in a poll or letter campaign if applicable. Some days are amazing and you meet a ton of interesting people, other days are awful and people are very rude and dismissive. 

After you're done canvassing at 9:00 you have a one on one meeting with the field manager for a couple minutes and review the day, then you hop in the van and do paperwork on the way back to the office, where you finish up for the night around 10.

Overall, it's a great experience and I would recommend it, at least for a while.

Not a bad job if you're struggling for a job, but not a career (unless you get a Really high position). They have a fast turnaround. Within the first week there, I saw many new people - one person quit after their first day. I didn't finish the contract work. You may apply for one position, but even with different titles - it all is the same job: canvassing. They aren't clear what the job requirements are and though the organization overall is a great cause, one doesn't feel they are contributing to help the cause. You just go door to door asking for donations and membership sign-ups. The tactics they want you to use on people are slightly aggressive, even though the company depends on donations.... But after you knock on 100+ doors a door, you are bound to get some donations. Most people working there were not passionate about the work, just using it as a way to get by. Non-profits are not just jobs, one needs to be passionate about it for it to be fully effective. It's hard to work with a company full of unmotivated and negative people.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Canvasser 1 salary reported	$60,000 per year
Organizer 3 salaries reported	$16.67 per hour
Non-profit representative 16 salaries reported	$45,610 per year
Community organizer 1 salary reported	$21.00 per hour
Environmental advocate 1 salary reported	$16.00 per hour

Working at Clean Water Action: Company Overview and Reviews

Clean Water Action

Clean Water Action Ratings

Popular jobs at Clean Water Action

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected