To combat limited campaign resources (time, money, people), we have created targets for you to use in VAN. We create these targets by reviewing each voter’s prior voting history, the previous responses they have given to DFL campaigns/party units, and purchased support and turnout data from sources such as the DNC.
We created a graph with Vote Propensity on the Y axis and Likely DFL Support on the X axis. We then placed every single voter onto this graph using the data that we have collected on them. Once each voter is plotted onto the graph, we are able to categorize groups of voters based on their likelihood to vote and likelihood to support the DFL.
High Propensity DFL
The first group of voters are the High Propensity DFL voters, which includes those who are highly likely to vote and highly likely to support the DFL. These voters can be targeted when conducting a first look for volunteers and potential donors, but since they are likely to vote and support the DFL, you should not spend as much time talking to this group. You don’t need to change their intended course of action, and time would be better spent speaking to other groups.
Low Propensity DFL
Low Propensity DFLers are those who are likely to support the DFL, but are less likely to vote. Since we know that they are likely to vote in our favor, the main objective is to ensure that these voters get to the polls and vote in the election, and contacting them will lead to higher turnout levels. This group of voters should be a major target in your voter outreach efforts to secure high levels of DFL support on election day.
High Propensity Persuasion
Voters classified as High Propensity Persuasion have indicated that they are likely to vote, but also that they are likely to vote for either party. Efforts to contact this group should be emphasized because we know that they will go to the polls and vote, and we want to ensure that they are voting DFL. We recommend that you spend more time contacting this group of voters because it is likely that their voting decision is not yet made, so speaking to them can help swing these voters to vote DFL.
Low Propensity Persuasion
Low Propensity Persuasion voters are voters who we either have little data on, or who have demonstrated that they are likely to be swing voters who will vote for either party. You can think of this as an expansion universe if you have exhausted contact efforts in the Low Propensity DFL and High Propensity Persuasion groups. There is some level of risk in contacting these voters, since many of them are voters for which we have no data, meaning they could be inclined to vote GOP and we just don’t know it yet.
High Propensity GOP
This group represents those voters who are likely to support the GOP and are highly likely to vote. This group should be avoided in voter outreach efforts, as they are unlikely to change their minds and campaign resources would be better utilized contacting other groups.
Low Propensity GOP
Our final group of voters are “Low Propensity GOP” voters. These are voters who have indicated that they are very likely to support the GOP, but are not as likely to vote. You should never contact this group, since the most likely outcome of doing so is increasing GOP turnout.
How to Use Targets
These targets have been made available in your VAN committee. In “Create a List,” simply scroll down to the “Targets” tab and expand it. You will see that you can check any and all targets you would like to include as part of your search.
Summary
To reiterate, we recommend that High Propensity Persuasion and Low Propensity DFL voters should be targeted the most when determining voter contact and outreach efforts. These two groups of voters can be convinced to change their course of action, regarding either which party they vote for or whether or not they get to the polls. If these two groups have been exhausted, Low Propensity Persuasion voters can be the next group to target. As a whole, targeting is done to best allocate limited resources and to maximize time and efficiency when contacting voters.