Get Involved!

If you are interested in getting involved with us, here are just a few ways in which you can:

Chapter Leader

A chapter leader is the one who takes the initiative to establish a chapter in his/her college. The position has no specific requirements apart from the need for you to be motivated to make a difference. It requires roughly 5-10 hours of work prior to the election (in September and October), although the actual amount may vary depending on whether or not the chapter has a Co-Chapter Leader. The chapter leader must also find the 3-5 volunteers that it requires to run a typical chapter. While these volunteers (viral, restaurant and CTC) have specific tasks, a chapter leader's responsibility is to coordinate their activities and ensure that the chapter plays a constructive role in raising the level of political participation within a specific campus.

Viral Volunteer

Each chapter needs a viral volunteer to publicize the activities of the group. The main responsibility of the viral volunteer is to formulate a message that can be used to attract the attention of other college students. The ideal message is one that motivates students to take part in political action, and the easiest kind of political action is signing an online petition or casting a vote in an online survey. Once a message has been formulated, the viral volunteer must move this message around campus. Clearly, even a brilliant message may prove ineffective if a large section of the student body remain unaware of it.

Restaurant Volunteer

A restaurant volunteer does not actually volunteer to work at a restaurant. Restaurant volunteers seek to find restaurants and cafes that will participate in Youth04. Participating in Youth04 involves providing an incentive for 18 to 25 year olds to meet fellow young voters at a particular restaurant. The most obvious form of incentive is a freebie or a discount. For example, a restaurant or cafe could offer a 25% discount for students who mention Youth04 or who take part in the Youth04 discussion. As a restaurant volunteer it is important that you make sure everyone understands that this is not an event centered effort. That is, students can visit these cafes in very small groups and engage each other in an informal and non-structured manner. We even recommend one person to drop by a cafe with his/her laptop and browse political websites, read op-eds and sign online petitions.

Community Technology Center Volunteer

Of the approximately 25 million 18 to 25 year olds, slightly over half are not in college or have never attended. Thus, in addition to attracting college students, Youth04 also wants to reach out to those 18 to 25 year olds who have not attended college. One way of doing so is by visiting the approximately 40,000 Community Technology Centers (CTCs) in America; many of which are government-funded and some of which are funded by non-profit organizations. Youth04 CTC volunteers have the task of connecting to these young voters in various YMCAs, public libraries and CTCs. We want to reach out to this conventionally disenfranchised populace by directing these young voters to our website, to candidate websites, to online petitions, and by getting them to talk to peers from local colleges and universities.

Posting Volunteer

Every chapter will also need a posting volunteer, whose responsibility involves updating the information on the state chapter webpage. The purpose of this page is to keep local students informed about local and state elections. This is an ideal position for a political junkie who also loves the net. The posting volunteer can provide links to useful articles, op-ed pieces and other relevant forms of information. While Youth04 is not primarily a portal, we recognize the importance of providing a source of information to young voters. Therefore, in addition to providing petitions and encouraging people to vote we also seek to provide as much relevant information as we can through our website. The posting volunteer will obviously play a vital role in this process. For states with multiple chapters, posting volunteers may also coordinate amongst each other to create a central webpage that is accessible to all colleges within the state, irrespective of whether they have a chapter or not.

Get Involved

To volunteer, please email us at volunteer@youth04.org.