One of the main functions on the myCampaign side of VAN is the ability to create events and manage your volunteers. This article will walk you through how to set up events in Event Manager, sign up volunteers, pull confirmation lists, and enter volunteer data after your event.


Create an Event


In the Main Menu on the MyCampaign side of VAN, find the box titled "Events" To view events you've already created, click "Event List." To create a new event click "Create a New Event."


Select the type of event you are holding from the drop-down menu. This is important because event attendees will be tagged with this event type for future contact.


Next, name your event. We recommend putting the type of event and the date in the title. You may also want to put any important toplines such as your campaign or any fun surrogates that will be there. 


Make sure to check "Make this event available on OpenVPB if you intend to later create a phone bank for event recruitment. 




If your event is a day or weekend-long event with multiple shifts, go to the "Shifts" tab and enter the number of shifts you want to create. Then enter in the specific hours for each shift (see below). Now when you are scheduling volunteers, you'll have the option to choose between the multiple shift times. 



If you are creating a recurring event at the same time and location every day/week, go to the "Repeat" tab, and select how often you'd like the event to repeat and your end date.



Next, add an address for your event. In the "Location" tab, click "Add Location." You'll have the option to select from past locations or create a new location. If you need to create a new location, enter the name and address, and click next, then click "Add Selected Locations"



In the "Roles" tab, you can select how people will be involved with the event. VAN defaults to the following roles for most events:

  • Data Entry - Used for those helping sign folks in and enter their data
  • Host - For the person holding the event
  • Organizer - For the person setting up and running the event
  • Phone Banker/Canvasser/Attendee - For people who attend your event.


These are not required but are sometimes useful in tracking who was doing what before, during, and after the event. Check as many fields as you'd like to use when signing people up. 



Once you have entered all the details of your event, click Finish.



Signing Up Volunteer for Your Events


There are a few ways to sign up people for your events - you can sign them up manually, sign them up in VPB, or (if you have the proper API Integration) they can sign themselves up on a system like Mobilize (talk with your campaign manager if you're interested in these tools)


1) To sign a voter up manually, go Quick Lookup and find the voter you're looking for (learn more about Quick Lookup here). In the profile page, go to upcoming events and click "Schedule for Events." Edit your filters to search for the event you want. You can do this by narrowing the date range or searching the event by name or location.


Then, next to the appropriate shift and role (if applicable), in the status bar, select the appropriate status (list of statuses below), and click save. 


2) When in VPB in VAN (not OpenVPB) you can add events to a voter's profile. After scheduling the voter for an event, but before clicking Save and Next Call, scroll down to Events on the right-hand side. Click "Schedule for Events." Edit your filters to search for the event you want. You can do this by narrowing the date range or searching the event by name or location. Then, next to the appropriate shift and role (if applicable), in the status bar, select the appropriate status (list of statuses below), and click save. 


3) In OpenVPB, you can also schedule voters for events. Choose in advance which event you want to schedule people for. In the VPB setup screen, check the box that says "Include Event Scheduler" and select which event and what statuses you want to choose from. See this article on Setting Up VPB's for a more detailed explanation.


Now you will have a widget in your script to sign up voters for that specific event.


Below is a list of the options under status, along with how that are typically used. However, please be sure to check with your field director on how to appropriately use status tags, as not all campaigns use them the same way.


Status:

  • Invited - You told a voter about the event, but they have not gotten back to you about whether or not they will attend
  • Left Msg - You left a message with a voter about the event, but you didn't speak to them -OR- you left a message to confirm a volunteer shift
  • Scheduled - A voter has told you they are coming to your event
  • Tentative - A voter has told you that are unsure if they'll make it to your event
  • Declined - A voter has declined to attend your event
  • Confirmed - In the days leading up to your event, you confirmed with the voter that they will attend your event. 
  • Conf Twice - For important events, you've confirmed multiple times with the voter that they will be attending your event. 
  • Canceled - A voter told you they were coming to your event, but then had to cancel
  • Completed - A voter who was scheduled for your event came to your event
  • Walk In - A voter who was not previously scheduled came to your event
  • No Show - A voter who was scheduled or confiirmed for your event did not show up for the event (without informing you beforehand)
  • Paid - For events such as fundraisers, the attendee has paid in advance to attend your event
  • Wait List - For limited capacity events, the voter wants to attend, but is on a wait list.
  • Sched Web - The voter signed themselves up on a website or third party tool you have integrated with VAN. This will appear automatically.



Creating a Confirm List


One important thing to do before every event is make confirm calls to all scheduled and tentative attendees. Fortunately, VAN has an easy way to see all attendees at once and mark them if they are confirmed. 


Find your event on the Event List Page, and click into the page to see details about the event.


Scroll down to "Participants Summary" and click "View All Participants."

Here you will find all the people who you've marked any status for your event. You can call through this list and use the status dropdown to change the status as needed.



Data Entry Post-Event


After the event, you will likely have a paper list of volunteers who attended the event. There are two main way to enter that data and close your shifts. 


1) Using the steps above for creating a confirm list, instead now use that to appropriately mark voters as needed. This works well as most of the attendees will be in one place, but you will need to go back at the end to include attendees not in the Participant List.


2) Using the steps above for manual signup, look up each attendee in Quick Mark and then go to their profile to change their status for the event. 


3) Use Quick Mark to preset a response and use that tool to mark volunteers as needs. See this article on Quick Mark for more details.



Congratulations! You now know all the steps to track volunteer data in MyCampaign.


                                                                                                                                                                                                 



Questions or feedback? Please email us at voterfile@dfl.org


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