Field data is some of the most important and actionable information you can use in voter targeting. VAN is a field database and contains all canvassing information you've previously entered into VAN from this cycle, or any other cycle in which you've used VAN. You can use this information to drop Republican IDs, remove people you've contacted recently, or double back with supporters and volunteers.
Canvass Status
Canvass Status is the result of a previous contact attempt. If we called a voter last week and had a conversation with them, that would be coded as a canvass status of "Canvassed." If, instead, the voter hadn't picked up, we could code that as "Not home."
You can also adjust your search criteria to only include canvass results within a certain time frame or by a certain canvasser using the filters below the individual statuses.
A couple common ways we use this:
-Remove all voters who we've canvassed, or who refused, in the last month from a current phone bank
-Call all voters who weren't home when we door-to-door canvassed during GOTV
-Have bilingual canvassers follow-up with voters marked with the "Spanish" canvass status
Important Note: You do not need to exclude "Wrong Number," "Disconnected," or "Moved" canvass statuses from future outreach. Wrong number/disconnected automatically removes that phone number from VAN and "Moved" automatically removes that voter address, so you won't attempt the voter at the same phone number or address
Survey Questions
Survey Questions are used to store data collected from the field in VAN. You can include them in the scripts you create to collect information from the field, and in Create a List to use that information to cut new lists of voters.
Like with Canvas Status, you can adjust your criteria to only include certain responses, timeframes, or canvassers.
A few common ways we use this:
-Remove Republican IDs from future outreach universes
-Remove Democratic IDs from persuasion universes
-Follow-up with supporters on an issue they said they cared about
-Follow-up with supporters who say they would like a yard sign or want to volunteer
-Include identified supporters and drop opponents in GOTV universes
Notes
While they don't represent standardized information and you should try to capture most information in survey questions and canvas results, notes can sometimes add important context to your campaign and future interactions with a voter.
Like survey questions and canvas statuses, you can limit your note criteria to given data ranges or canvassers.
Common uses:
-Pull notes from a given canvasser who let you know during the canvass debrief that they used notes to record support instead of the survey questions you provided.
-Pull all notes from a given weekend to follow-up with voters if notes were used to provide additional context.