Each spring, summer and fall, Common Cause offers internships in Washington, DC to students from across the country. Interns work closely with national staff on grassroots organizing efforts, research and writing of policy papers and investigative studies, outreach to members of Congress and their staffs, e-advocacy, and fundraising.

Through training and daily work experience, interns gain a deep understanding of the workings of Congress, the Executive Branch and grassroots lobbying. Weekly briefings with key Common Cause staff keep interns up-to-date on our highest priority campaigns and the strategies we are pursuing.

Interns can receive school credit and Common Cause offers a travel stipend to cover costs to and from our office for interns receiving school credit.

National Office Internships

Deadline for Summer 2019 applications is March 8th

Program Intern
Program interns will have the opportunity to work in various parts of the organization on projects assigned according to their interests and abilities. Past interns have blogged, attended hearings, conducted research, and helped plan outreach activities.

Research Intern
Research interns will assist lawyers and legal fellows as part of the legal research team. They will conduct research necessary to create charts and information summaries for use. Past interns have drafted rebuttal arguments for congressional testimony, attended congressional hearings, and compiled data for use by senior staff and policy experts.

Communications Intern
Communications interns will work mainly with our communications team to help produce web content, blog posts, email messages to members, and press relations materials. Past interns have helped create and maintain our website, written blog posts, processed and uploaded content, posted social media, and made infographics for events.

Digital Campaigns Intern
A Digital Campaigns Intern will work with our digital team as we mobilize our membership base to win campaigns using digital organizing tools and tactics. This will include: drafting, editing, and producing action-driven content for web, email, and social, assisting with our website content migration, fielding member inquiries and feedback that come in through various channels, and other tasks as needed. Plusses include experience with political writing, HTML/CSS, social media, or organizing.

As a Digital Campaigns Intern, you’ll learn how to write compelling messages that drive individuals to take action, use digital tools to make an impact, and be part of the digital presence of a prominent advocacy organization.

“Working as an intern this summer at Common Cause was a great professional experience. I was given the opportunity to draft original content that was published on the blog, Democracy Wire. I also had the opportunity to meet leaders from the government and non-profit sectors through attending meetings, conference calls, and events in Washington, D.C. Common Cause is a dynamic office where I had the independence to work on many different tasks—from communications to advocacy and research. I left feeling inspired by the work I had done and by the work of the organization as a whole.”

– Jane Hood  (Fall 2018)

TO APPLY:

Please submit resume and cover letter to the Director of Human Resources at hr@commoncause.org and include INTERNSHIP in the subject line. No phone calls please. Applicants are encouraged to respond as soon as possible. Applications without a cover letter will not be considered. Common Cause strongly encourages those from historically under-served, underrepresented or marginalized communities to apply.

ABOUT COMMON CAUSE:

Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create an open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promotes equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empowers all people to make their voices heard in the political process.

Founded almost 50 years ago, Common Cause has more than 1.2 million members and 30 state organizations that are working to support our efforts across the country. More information can be found at www.commoncause.org.

Common Cause is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applicants of any race, creed, color, religion, ethnicity, national origin, income class, political affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, veteran status or marital status, as well as applicants who have been previously incarcerated.