What’s it like to intern at ActBlue? featured image placeholder

What’s it like to intern at ActBlue?

Our (paid) interns are an integral part of our operations here at ActBlue. They’re given significant pieces of work and an opportunity to learn from every department.

Every summer and semester we have a new group come in to answer donors’ questions, assist staff with various projects, and just observe/ask questions from the staff. It’s even served as a talent pipeline, with three people on our staff who are former interns.

Obviously, we’re pretty proud of the program and are honored to give several of this summer’s interns an opportunity to share a bit from their experiences.

Tyler:

So what’s an internship at ActBlue actually going to look like? What are you really going to take away from your time here professionally? ActBlue is a startup and a non-profit that has had such success that it now has the resources and benefits of working at a larger organization with the fun upbeat nature of a smaller organization.

What does this mean? You know basically everyone in the office, the staff is small enough to have weekly meetings, and interns are much more involved than the coffee runs they might otherwise be doing at a large firm. However, ActBlue’s size affords departments the resources for no shortage of projects, presentations and wisdom on a variety of topics including but in no way limited to: marketing, outreach, technical services, security, operations, compliance, business, how to be a person 101, etc. What this meant for me personally was a variety of interesting presentations and projects on what it takes for an organization to run smoothly.

Part of why I took this job to begin with was to learn about working at a non-profit. In pairing me with projects, my intern supervisor was extremely attentive to this. In general, the intern supervisors at ActBlue are very accommodating and supportive and actively work to make sure that when you walk away from your time here, you do so satisfied, with relevant experience under your belt.

Tim:

Having the opportunity to work somewhere that is a major force for the causes I’m passionate about and genuinely cares about its employees has been amazing, and the fact that it’s paid is the icing on top.

At ActBlue, I’ve been able to make a real impact supporting progressive politics. ActBlue is a small organization, and as a result interns play an integral part in day to day work. Whether it’s by interacting with donors and campaigns, researching potential candidates, or collaborating with the marketing team, I saw the direct results of my work constantly.

Since day one, ActBlue has made interns’ professional growth a main concern, and developing an understanding of how each team functions is just a part of that. They have pressured me to hone my career aspirations, and challenged me to become a better employee.

Anastasia:

Having had past internships with campaigns and a state political party, I felt that interning for ActBlue would give me that third perspective that I was missing: who is behind the success of a campaign? We constantly hear about the innovation that the internet has brought to political campaigns (cough Obama 2008 cough) but what is the structure behind the success of democratic campaigns across the country? I discovered that the structure behind a large portion of the success is a 40 person-staff office in Davis Square.

Of the many positive attributes of this internship, one that I especially appreciated was the reminder of the role that the interns play in the organization as a whole. Each staff member of ActBlue constantly sought feedback from the interns on the projects that we were working on and the experience that we were having with ActBlue. They also asked about my interests and what I found interesting in this field.

The office culture of ActBlue has set the standard for my future careers fairly high: A comfortable workplace with coffee (critical), an open concept workspace for conversations, and an appreciation of current affairs. This office space is inhabited by young, progressively minded individuals, all working to improve the current political sphere. ActBlue brings the same friendly, helpful attitude they have with donors to their staffers (including interns!)

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at ActBlue. I was able to work with a revolutionary non-profit that is changing the landscape of online political fundraising, build valuable working relationships, live in Davis Square for the summer, expand my LinkedIn network, and most importantly, discover more about myself and my desired work environment for the ever daunting and quickly approaching “real world.”

We look for new interns year-round. For more information, email opportunities@actblue.com.

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