Canvasser: What is the cost of hiring?

What is a Canvasser?

A Canvasser helps an organization connect with members of its target audience. They generate leads, solicit donations, survey audience members and distribute promotional materials. In some organizations, Canvassers also do cold calling to reach more prospects.

Why hire a Canvasser?

Canvassers persuade audience members to buy products and services, which helps businesses generate revenue. They can also enhance your company’s reputation by providing excellent service.

Political Canvassers help campaigns by persuading voters to choose a specific candidate. They also pass out campaign materials, making it easier to spread your message.

Contributions of a great Canvasser:

• Increased voter engagement
• Enhanced communication with audience members
• Improved data collection efforts

Defining your hiring needs for a Canvasser

When learning how to hire a Canvasser, it’s helpful to define your hiring needs before you write a job description. Assess the workload to determine whether you need a full-time employee, a part-time employee or a freelancer.

You may also want to set a budget and clarify the scope of responsibilities for your Canvasser role or other roles with similar duties like Sales Representative and Campaign Manager.

When writing your Canvasser job description, consider using the keywords job seekers use when searching for canvassing roles. According to Indeed data, the most popular search terms include:

• Canvasser
• Marketing
• Political Canvasser
• Canvassing
• Urgently hiring
• Creative
• Construction
• Training provided
• Weekly pay

Want more hiring insights for your Canvasser? Sign in or create your free Indeed account.

Where to find a Canvasser

You can find Canvassers through community job boards, grassroots organizations, local colleges and social media platforms. Partnering with advocacy groups or attending local hiring events can help you connect with candidates who are comfortable engaging with the public.

To find the right Canvasser for your team, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Recruitment firms: Some recruitment agencies match salespeople with open positions, and some help political campaigns find Canvassers.
• Social media: Consider posting job openings on your company’s social media profiles.
• Employee referrals: One of your team members may know someone who’s interested in Canvassing.
• Internal promotions: If you run a political campaign, one of your volunteers may be interested in working as a Canvasser. For Sales Canvasser positions, ask if one of your sales representatives would like to apply.
• Post your job online: Consider posting your Canvasser job on Indeed to find candidates.

Skills to look for in a Canvasser

A successful Canvasser candidate typically has the following skills, gained through experience, training or education:

• Experience with lead-generation methods, including networking, social media marketing and cold calling
• Competence in using canvassing software, such as Active Campaign for sales canvassing or Ecanvasser for political campaigns
• Ability to persuade audience members to buy a product, use a service or vote for a candidate
• Proficiency in tracking customer data with HubSpot, Monday.com or another CRM
• Experience scheduling sales appointments

Writing a Canvasser job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular job seeker search terms and hiring insights for a Canvasser, you’re ready to write a job description.

A Canvasser job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Ready to get started? Check out our full guide for writing Canvasser job descriptions.

Interviewing Canvasser candidates

Strong candidates for Canvasser positions will be confident answering questions about:

• Using effective sales techniques to convert leads into customers
• Nurturing leads with social media, website content, email marketing and other methods
• Educating voters about a candidate’s or political party’s platform
• Gathering data from registered voters or prospective customers
• Documenting customer contacts with lead management or sales software
• Persuading audience members to sign petitions, volunteer for political campaigns or take other desired actions