What You’ll Learn
- How to use VoteBuilder to create lists of voters (including your base and persuasion voters)
- How to utilize the basic capabilities of the software
- How to enter data from voter contact efforts back into VoteBuilder
Why This is Important
This course will introduce you to the basic functions of VoteBuilder, the software Democratic campaigns across the country use to organize their voter contact efforts. If you’re using VoteBuilder in your campaign — whether you are developing your campaign plan, organizing your persuasion efforts, kicking off your early GOTV initiatives, or deep in your final GOTV push — getting more comfortable with it can be a game-changer for your campaign.
Key Resources
- VoteBuilder Glossary
- Organizing Your Folders & Naming Your Lists Guide — a step-by-step guide to creating and sharing folders and lists
- Creating Lists Guide — a step-by-step guide to creating lists of voters
- Preparing Walk Packets Guide — a step-by-step guide to generating the materials for a canvass
- Printing Lists for Phone Banks Guide — a step-by-step guide to printing call lists for phone banks
- Entering Data Guide — a step-by-step guide to entering the results from your canvasses and phone banks back into VoteBuilder
- Sample Persuasion Script — an example of a canvass and phone bank script used to persuade voters that you can edit and build off of for your campaign
Related Trainings
- Calculating Your Vote Goal — Determine the number of votes you need to win and bring that number (or even better the full Key Field Numbers Workbook), and you’ll be ready to start building your lists of base and persuasion voters with us in VoteBuilder
- Field Tactics — Your walk and phone bank packets aren’t all your volunteers need to succeed. You’ll also need to train and manage them — this course can help you with that
Thank Yous
This course was developed with assistance from many people throughout the Democratic community. NDTC would like to especially thank:
- NGPVAN, the creators of VAN (and VoteBuilder), for providing us access to the software
- Katie Ellis of Intrepid Strategies for lending her VoteBuilder and training expertise to the curriculum development process
- Luke Siebert, Data Director for the Maine Democratic Party, who spent his “free time” during the 2018 election season developing the curriculum with us
- Cedar Interactive for all their work designing the interactive simulations
Rose Clouston
Trainer
At the time this course was created, Rose was the Director of Online Trainings at NDTC. She is currently the Director of Voter Protection at the Texas Democratic Party.
Prior to joining NDTC, Rose was a National Coordinator at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, where she managed the non-partisan Election Protection hotline, training and managing thousands of volunteers who answered tens of thousands of voters’ questions in the 2014 and 2016 elections. She organized state-level poll monitoring and election reform advocacy efforts in Pennsylvania, New York and Florida. Previously, Rose worked at the New Organizing Institute creating an online guide to election laws, served as deputy campaign manager on a Virginia gubernatorial primary campaign and was a regional field director on a Florida gubernatorial campaign. Rose has a Master in Public Policy from the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations from the University of Florida. She is a Chicago native and in her free time enjoys running, yoga, watching Top Chef, and trying new vegetarian recipes (and getting omnivores to try them!)