MiniVAN

1. Be sure to make confirmation calls at least 48 hours in advance so you know who will be joining your canvass. While making your confirmation calls, ask your canvassers to download the MiniVAN app (it may be called ‘MiniVAN Touch’ in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store). The app is free to download. And be sure they have their Action ID account set up and they know their login credentials. This will speed up the process when sending them out into turf the day of the canvass.
2. At least 48 hours before your event, physically go to the turf you and your canvassers will be canvassing and enter the list number into MiniVAN to ensure that the list number is working correctly and giving you addresses in the area you intend to canvass.
3. Be sure to have your canvass launch location completely set up and ready to go a minimum of 15 minutes before your event start time. This will allow you to be ready to welcome any early birds and get them set up, troubleshoot any technical difficulties they are having with the app, etc.
4. Take advantage of those 15 minutes ahead of the canvass and ask any first-time canvassers to join you as well. Use that time to make sure they are able to log in to MiniVAN successfully, answer any questions they may have, make sure they’re comfortable with the script and messaging, and help them with any last-minute nervousness.
5. Keep it fun! At the top of the canvass, welcome everyone to the event and get them pumped up! Remind them to take breaks out in turf, to drink plenty of water, bring a snack, etc. Encourage everyone to keep track of their contact rate, and celebrate when someone hits a goal, like five successful contacts! And don’t forget to SYNC every 3 to 4 doors, and once more after the very last door!

Not Home – This response is used when the voter does not answer the door, is not home, or the person who answers the door informs you that the voter is unavailable to speak at the moment. This response is also used when you cannot reach the voter, but none of the below options are correct for the situation.

Refused – This response is used if you know you are talking to the voter you are attempting to contact, you have stated who you are/are with and why you are knocking, and the voter: closes the door on you, tells you to stop coming to their address, not answer your questions, is clearly keeping you at the door to waste your time, or heckles you.

If the voter still engages in conversation with you and answers most of the questions you ask, but chooses not to answer certain questions, that is not a ‘refused’. You should fill in the drop-down fields or check the box next to the correct options in the script but leave the ones they do not answer blank. The questions they do answer are still valuable information to be collected.

Deceased – The voter has passed away.

Inaccessible – The address the voter lives at cannot be accessed by sidewalk or by directly walking up to the door. For example, a fence that goes around the entire perimeter of the property, or a dog in the front yard. This also applies to gated communities and gated apartment complexes.

Moved – The voter no longer lives at that address.

No Such Address – The address does not exist on that street. This could be due to the vater or the state’s office entering the wrong numerical address for the voter.

Spanish – The voter’s primary language is Spanish. In this case, you should mark the voter as Spanish. This will prompt them to be moved into a Spanish-speaking phone bank or canvass for volunteers who speak Spanish to contact them.

Other Language – If the voter does not speak English or Spanish, and the language barrier prevents any and all conversation from being had, mark them as ‘Other Language’ and we will attempt to contact the voter via a phone bank being called through by volunteers who speak their primary language. You should include which language they speak in the notes section on your screen.

Through our tools, you’ll be connected with registered voters in areas across the country. We think it is really important to make sure everyone stands up to be counted, so we focus on talking to never-voters to semi-frequent voters, to remind them to vote in each election. We know that we can’t win an election without a wave of support up and down the ballot.

Great question! While each canvassing pair’s results will vary, the average shift is about two to two and a half hours long, and the average canvassing pair knocks on about 40 to 45 doors per shift.

Another great question! If you’re canvassing during the week, Monday through Friday, the best time to canvass is 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. (But NEVER after dark!). This is when most voters are off from work and at home, and likely able to answer the door. On Saturdays, peak canvass time is 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. And on Sundays, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. is best.

In this situation, marking the voter as ‘not home’ is the correct response. Unless the person at the door confirms they are who you want to speak with, then mark the voter as ‘not home’. We do not accept answers to our questions for a voter from their spouse, family member, roommate, etc, as not all relatives or household members vote the same way.

If a voter says they are not voting for any candidate in a particular race, leave the drop-down menu for that question blank, scroll down to the notes section at the end of your script, and indicate that the voter does not plan to vote for a candidate in that particular race.

Mark the voter as ‘not home’ so they stay on our list and we can attempt to canvass them at a later date.

When canvassing, unless instructed by your Organizer, it’s best practice not to leave messages. The time you take leaving a message might result in you missing the opportunity to speak to the next voter on your list. A live conversation is always preferred when engaging with voters over leaving a message. If a voter does not answer the door, or someone else does and tells you the voter is not home/available, then mark the voter as ‘not home’ and move to the next house. BUT…

Yes, as long as the lit was approved by Indivisible staff and given to you by your Organizer or group leader, you can leave lit. If you do have lit to hand out, feel free to leave one on the front stoop, on a chair, on a porch swing, under a potted plant, etc. But never put lit in a voter’s mailbox. It is illegal to open a mailbox that is not your own.

A ‘refused’ is any conversation where the voter does not answer the questions we are canvassing to engage them on. Whether they are polite about refusing (“Thank you, but I’d rather not answer.” “For me, my vote is a personal matter” “Thank you for what you do, but I won’t discuss who I vote for with anyone.”) or impolite (“Don’t come here again!” “Take me off your list!” or just slams the door on you), if they do not answer the questions you are asking, then they are considered as refusing to answer. Please note:

If they answer some, but not all of the questions you ask them, that is not a refusal. Mark the answers for the questions they do answer, and leave the questions they do not answer blank.

Yes, we can send an email or a text to a voter (email is preferred) BUT

• The voter must explicitly say YES for it to be sent.
• It must be sent by the canvasser who spoke with the voter. That means that the voter’s info should not be shared in a chat log or with other volunteers. The best practice we use in this situation is that the canvasser should send the message to the voter as soon as they are finished speaking with them so they do not forget and so the voter can perform the action as soon as possible.

Whenever sending a follow-up message to a voter, especially if by text, we want the message to be as short and to the point as possible. Friendly reminder that some voters still pay per text/minute. A great example would be: “Thanks for making the call to your And if you’d like a script or talking senator today! Here is the number to call. And if you would like a script or talking points to use, here’s a link.”