July VoteSource Newsletter

Welcome to the July edition of the VoteSource Newsletter.

Missed our last edition? Catch up by clicking here.

Or click here to browse all previous editions.

Feedback Survey Reminder

We would like to thank everyone who has already provided their feedback for their experiences with VoteSource over the recent elections.

If you have not yet had your say, the survey should only take a few minutes and the feedback will help us improve VoteSource for your campaigning efforts. All responses are totally anonymous, and the survey will be available to answer until Friday 6pm 30/07/21.

Click here for the survey.

VoteSource Fundamentals - Creating Canvass Cards

Building on last month’s VoteSource Fundamentals article, we will now go over how to enable canvass card creation and data entry from a target audience you have created.

If you missed last month’s article and want to catch up, you can do so here.

How do I create and download canvass cards?

From within your Target Audience you will need to click on the Enabled Activities blue tile. In this section are many campaigning options that we will go into further detail in other editions – the first option at the top of the list is Canvass card.

To start the process of creating canvass cards, simply toggle the On/Off option to the left of Canvass card to On. You will then be able to select Generate a new set of canvass cards. Once you have clicked this option you will be presented with options to help customise your canvass cards. Once you have made your selections simply click the Generate option at the bottom of the list.

Your canvass cards will then be generated, and once this is complete you will be able to download them by polling district or walk route, depending on what you selected at the previous step.

Importantly you will also find that VoteSource has automatically generated a password – this is a requirement with GDPR due to the very sensitive nature of the data on the canvass cards. If you plan to send the canvass cards via email to someone else, the password should not go in the same email as the one the cards are attached to.

How do I enable canvass data entry?

Canvass data entry is enabled in the same area as canvass card are created. The option is three down from the top, labelled Canvass data entry. Simply toggle the On/Off option to On to start the process.

You will then be able to toggle Rapid Canvass to Yes, as we are looking at setting up canvass data entry in this article rather than Survey data entry.

You will then need to select the template type for your canvass data entry. You may have set up a custom type of data entry template via the survey section in VoteSource, but in general you will wish to use one of the following:

• Traditional Canvass Entry (Parl and Local) [National]
• Traditional Canvass Entry (Local) Survey [National]
• Traditional Canvass Entry (Scotland) [National]
• Traditional Canvass Entry (Wales) [National]

For obvious reasons the Scotland and Wales options will only appear if your target audience has been run for an area within one of those countries.

Once you have selected the template which matches your canvass cards, you then need to select a data protection statement and then whether or not you wish to record SMS consent – depending on whether or not you have collected specific consent for a mobile number to receive SMS messages from the Conservative Party. Once this is done, simply click Enable Activity.

There is one final crucial step before data entry can begin, you will need to click Manage Activity which will be the only option left once you have set up the data entry template. A new page will load, which will have the option Start Canvass data entry – until this option has been clicked no data entry can begin. Once it has been clicked a red no entry sign will appear over it.

How can I or my volunteers enter canvass data entry after they have been canvassing?

Once you have set up canvass data entry as explained in the above section, it is very straightforward to access canvass data entry.

From the VoteSource homepage, click on Campaigns and then select Canvass Data Entry on the next page that loads.

The next page depends on the users level of access to VoteSource. All recipients of this newsletter will be brought to the Canvass Data Entry Management screen and will need to click on the Enter Data option on the left hand side of the page. This will load the Canvass Data Entry screen, which those that don’t receive this email will see straight away when they click on Canvass Data Entry from the campaigns page.

All that remains is to find the name of the Target Audience in the drop down menu and you can being entering your canvass data.

As ever, if you have any questions on the above please feel free to contact the VoteSource Support team on 020 7984 8000 or votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

Connect Calling

Turning off Connect Scripts

Summer provides the perfect opportunity for a quick tidy up in the Connect world.

During any election period, many new scripts are created and made live for callers across the UK. However these scripts are not always required following an election. So now is your chance to turn off any Connect scripts which are no longer required. This will ensure that the only calling scripts available for callers are those you are using locally for current campaigning efforts.

To turn off a Connect script, select Campaigns on the VoteSource homepage, then Target Audiences followed by the target audience you wish to edit. Once loaded simply click enabled activities and scroll down to the bottom of the page until you reach Phone section. There you will see a button next to the words Connect calling, click the button it so it shows ‘Off’. This will end calling for that audience and remove the script from the calling list shown on the Connect home page.

There is also no need to worry about losing the data obtained from the calls when turning off a script, as all the voting intentions and issues that have been entered via calling aren’t affected!

For more information on all things calling, from turning off your scripts to setting up a training session for your callers, please contact the Connect team at: connect@conservatives.com

Recording Marked Registers

There have been numerous elections so far this year: PCC, Mayoral, Local and Parliamentary. It is crucial for our ongoing campaigning efforts that the marked registers for these elections are recorded in VoteSource. This will help not only your local campaigning efforts, but also national planning. If you have not yet started entering your marked registers, now is an ideal time to begin.

Nearly every user role for VoteSource can enter marked register data, but as well as having a login to VoteSource, the user will also need access to “Publishing Authorities they can View”. This section allows them to view register data and to record it. Not all readers of this Newsletter will have the ability to assign access, or view user accounts. If you believe you do not have access to Publishing Authorities please either contact your association or VoteSource Support at:

votesourcesupport@conseravtives.com

If you need a refresher on how to record Marked Register data, there are user guides available in the Help Centre on VoteSource. Specifically the guide:

Marked Register – Data Entry