There are a lot of great vendors who provide services that integrate with VAN. Some examples are dialers like ThruTalk, texting platforms like Hustle, and event management platforms like Mobilize. However, not all vendors are created equally, and it's important to do your due diligence before you sign a contract. Here are some questions to answer for yourself before you sign with a new vendor.


1. (Most important) Does the vendor have an API integration with VAN?

As stated in the DFL's VAN agreement, exports are not available for contact methods other than mail. If the tool relies on exports or uploads, you should find a different vendor that has an API connection. 


To figure out if your prospective tool has an API connection, have your campaign's VAN admin search for an API key associated with that vendor. (See API Key Request for details on how to search for API keys in VAN). If there is not an option for your prospective vendor in the API key dropdown, then you need to find a different vendor.


2. Have DFL campaigns used this vendor, and did they have a good experience?

Ask the vendor if they can point you to a DFL campaign who has signed with them in the past. Make sure to talk directly to that campaign to get their recommendation (or not-recommendation!) of the tool. The DFL data team has a few tried-and-true vendors listed in Political Data Outside of VAN.


3. Will the vendor be able to deliver on the technology they have promised you?

Ask for a demo of the product. Be sure to remember that vendors demo the product at its best, but there are likely to be areas of the product that fail at some point during your campaign. If the demo appears to meet your campaign's needs, ask the following questions to assess the vendor's ability to work through technical issues:

  • How many people are on your technical support team, and how many clients do you expect to have on board before November?
  • What kind of self-serve help documentation is available for your users?
  • Can you tell me about a time when your tech support team was swamped? What issue were they solving? On what timeline was the issue resolved?