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.

Campaign releases

Constituent – This section has 15 user guides.

Campaigning on proposed boundaries and the ability to grant access

We are excited to report that all proposed constituency boundaries are now loaded and available on VoteSource.

You now can run target audiences for proposed boundaries which have been finalised. This will allow you to conduct all campaigning activities for these areas in preparation for upcoming elections. For example, you can create canvass cards on these new boundaries and then enter the data you have collected.

It is important to note that this change does not prevent you from carrying out campaigning activities on the current boundaries, nothing has changed in this regard.

There are new users guides to help with setting up target audiences using proposed parliamentary boundaries and an article in this newsletter that goes into more detail on how to set one up.

Ability to export Campaign Reports and run reports on new boundaries

We are pleased to report that the ability to generate exports from the Reports section has been reinstated. This has been a much-requested feature to return.

For those readers who have only recently started using VoteSource or might not be aware of the reports section, it can be found under the Campaigns tile at the bottom of the page as part of the Your Electorate section.

You can now also set up reports on proposed boundaries in a similar fashion to setting up a target audience on the new boundaries. You will require the appropriate access to your user account to be able to do this and when setting up the report will need to ensure you the election type is set to Parliamentary (Proposed). This will then allow you to pull of the required reports for the new area.

Survey creation warning messages

We have listened carefully to the feedback on the survey set up, particularly regarding the warnings given when trying to proceed with a survey that is missing logic for example.

Readers reported that the warnings given by the system were not providing enough information, as such our team have worked hard to improve the information provided in these warnings to make the messages clearer to you.

There will still be two categories of warning, red and yellow. With red being something that needs to be addressed urgently as the missing item is preventing you from collecting data via the survey. The yellow category is advisory, to encourage users to think about including certain other question types to improve your data collection.

The yellow category can be simply acknowledged, and you may proceed without heeding its advice. However, we strongly recommend you check the advice carefully before doing so.

The red category as already stated will not allow you to proceed to publish the survey until is resolved.

This work will improve your overall experience with setting up surveys and ensure better data collection.

We are also pleased to report that there has been work to improve performance and other improvements to the system.

If you have any questions on any of the above don’t hesitate to contact the VoteSource Support team on 020 7984 8000 or votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

VoteSource Fundamentals

As announced in our first article, users now have the ability to set up target audiences on proposed boundaries. It is important to note that you will need to your permissions updated on your account to be able to view the entirety of the new constituency. If your permissions need amending, you will need to contact either your area campaign manager, voluntary party manager or VoteSource Support.

Please be aware that if you contact VoteSource Support we will only be able to amend your access with authorisation from your voluntary party manager or campaign manager before we can amend your access.

Most readers will be familiar with how to set up a target audience on current boundaries, but for any newcomers to the system the following guide covers how you would set up a target audience to identify postal voters for example:

https://votesource.uk/support/HelpCenter#!/ViewArticle/372

Please be aware we have more user guides on how setting up target audiences in the Help Centre found on VoteSource under the Campaign – Target Audiences section.

The mechanics of setting up a target audience with proposed boundaries are very similar but with some key differences.

You still follow the same initial path of clicking on the Campaigns tile and selecting Target Audiences. From the next page you would select New Target Audience + which would then present you with the usual list of quick selection tiles and advanced audience options. All the tiles available to you have the ability to be run on proposed boundaries.

Once you have selected the tile you wish to run, you would fill in the first page with the usual information such as name and election type you wish to campaign on.

It is when you reach the second page, when you are required to select the electoral geography type that you need to specify the new boundaries.

On the drop down for Electoral Geography Type you would select Parliamentary (Proposed).

The next drop down to appear, Parliamentary Constituency will now display the proposed constituency name, for example Lewisham West and Dulwich (Parliamentary 2023 review) which you can now select.

The final crucial element to ensure you have selected to correctly view all the proposed polling districts for this constituency is to ensure you have set the Geography from current to Proposed.

The Geography option is also new and is located above the Polling District header.

If you have followed all these steps, and your access has been updated to include the proposed constituency, you will then be able to select polling districts from the proposed constituency.

We also have two new user guides to assist with setting up target audiences with proposed boundaries:

Target Audience – Proposed Boundary Changes (Parliamentary Level) – Advanced target Audience by PD

Target Audience – Proposed Boundary Changes (Local) – How to create an Advanced Target by PD

Like any new feature, it will take time to learn how to set this feature up. As ever the VoteSource Support team are available to assist with this and can be contacted on 020 7984 8000 and votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

A final reminder, if you contact us to have your access updated we cannot do so automatically and will need authorisation from either a campaign manager, or voluntary party manager before doing so.

Planned Maintenance

Please be aware that VoteSource will be down for planned maintenance from 10pm Friday 28th of July until 9am Saturday 29th July.

If you are planning on campaigning this coming Weekend, and require materials from VoteSource, we would kindly request you download them from VoteSource before this time as you will be unable to access the system during this planned work.

If you have any questions, please contact the VoteSource Support team on 020 7984 8000 or votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

Insights

Marked Registers

Wondering what’s the best thing you can do to prepare for next year’s local and national elections? Find out who voted in this year’s local elections!

The marked register is the list of people on the electoral register with a line drawn next to the names of people who voted. You can buy it from your local authority, and enter the data into VoteSource. It’s quick to do, and will help you for years to come.

How will it help me? It’s incredibly helpful to know which people vote and which people don’t. And when you combine it with registers from different elections it’s especially useful to know the people who sometimes vote but sometimes don’t.

It can help you target all sorts of campaigning activity - from canvassing to GOTV to membership recruitment. And it helps us at CCHQ help you as well, by making the audiences we load to VoteSource more accurate.

So don’t delay - and get your marked register ordered today.

The order must be placed by the person nominated to act by the Party’s Nomination Officer, and you should specify a data copy instead of paper as this is cheaper. If asked for the purpose, state “Electoral purposes”.

If you have any questions please email:

marked.register@conservatives.com