June VoteSource Newsletter

Welcome to the June edition of the VoteSource Newsletter.

Missed our last edition? Catch up by clicking here.

Or click here to browse all previous editions.

In this month’s edition we are covering VoteSource user accounts and launching a new monthly feature – VoteSource Fundamentals.

Each month we will cover an aspect of VoteSource in detail to help make sure you’re getting the most from the system. In turn, you can pass this on to your campaign teams.

We also have information on recording consent for mobile SMS and a reminder that there is currently a VoteSource Feedback survey up and running.

An Important Reminder our team email address is votesourcesupport@conservatives.com if you are emailing any other email address we will not be able to help you!

Feedback Survey Reminder

In last month’s edition we provided a short feedback survey for VoteSource during the recent elections. We would like to thank everyone who has already provided their feedback.

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 6pm 30/07/21.

Click here for the survey.

VoteSource Fundamentals - Target Audiences

What is a Target Audience?

A Target Audience is the basic building block from which all campaign operations can be created in VoteSource. If you want to create canvass cards, enable mobile canvassing, create a mail merge, set up connect calling or any other campaign activity – you will need to have first created a target audience.

A Target Audience gives you the ability to tie all campaigning activities to one audience. You can have canvassing and connect calling running side-by-side. As data is recorded against the target audience and constituents are contacted, your target will decrease meaning you only contact people who you have not yet spoken with.

When you create a target audience it is a snapshot of the database as of when it is run. This includes voting intentions and individuals on the electoral register. The benefits of this is that whatever campaigning materials you produce from the target audience, the data entry will always match the constituents you have contacted – even if they have moved away from your area the data you collect will follow their record.

This means that as monthly updates to the register are applied and other campaigning takes place, your target audience will not be updated and instead become out of date. Therefore, we recommend that a target audience be set up for a specific campaign objective and once that is met it is archived, and a new target audience set up.

We do not recommend setting up one target audience at the start of the year and using it continuously throughout the year – this will be detrimental to your campaign efforts.

Why use a Target Audience

As already mentioned, target audiences are required to set up campaigning sessions on VoteSource. But they are also required for data entry, be it canvass, connect calling or survey data.

When you create a target audience it will be using all available data that the Conservative Party holds. This includes electoral register, voting intentions and contact preferences. If an individual has opted out of being contact by the Party, and their record updated to reflect this, target audiences will not include these individuals. This is very important in ensuring our campaign efforts are GDPR compliant.

Target audiences will also automatically exclude records that have been marked as deceased. This means you can be confident that when you run your target audience you are only contacting people that the Party legally can contact.

But, as already mentioned, target audiences are not updated once they are created. Meaning that if you are using an old target audience updates to the system will not be incorporated. Such as if a person has requested not to be contacted by the Party or a record has been marked as deceased. This again reinforces the requirement to archive target audiences that are no longer required, or were run even a couple of months ago, and set up new ones for fresh campaigns

How do I create a Target Audience?

All original recipients of this email will have the ability to create target audiences. If you have been forwarded this email you may not be able to create a target audience.

From the VoteSource homepage, click on Campaigns and when the next page loads select Target Audiences. Once the next page loads you will be able to view all active target audiences for the electoral areas your user account has access to. Please note, these will include target audiences not created by you.

To create a brand-new target audience simply select the + New Target Audience option on the right-hand side of the page. You will then be presented all available target audience options, such as Full Canvass, Uncanvassed and Postal Voters. These tiles are self-explanatory as to what they will produce when ran.

There are two exceptions to this, they are Advanced Target Audience by Polling District & Advanced Target Audiences by Electoral Area. These two options will allow you to specify your own criteria when you set them up.

Once you have chosen which target audience you wish to run, you will be asked to complete a few set-up questions. These include a name – it is important this be unique and readily identifies the target audience, not just Test1. It is also worth reminding readers that if an individual asks for all information the Party has on them, the name of any target audience they are included in will appear. Please ensure your target audience is named something appropriate to your campaign.

You will also need to specify what election type you are canvassing for. This is very important as the election type you select locks in the franchise type as well as the election type for voter history. For example, selecting a local election means that only people eligible to vote in local elections will appear in the target audience and that only marked register history from local elections is included.

As you proceed through the options you will also need to specify the area you wish to run your target audience for. Once you have set up your target audience as required all you will finally need to do is generate it.

How do you archive a Target Audience when you are finished with it?

Archiving a target audience removes it from being accessed and ends all data entry set up against it.

We recommend routinely archiving all target audiences you are no longer using or that have become out of date due to the new register updates to the system.

To do so, click on Campaigns on the homepage, then select Target Audiences. You can then search for the target audience you wish to archive. Once you have located it, click on the name or doughnut to access it.

Finally, once the target audience has loaded, simply click the red Finish and Archive button. You will be presented with a final check before archiving – or if the target audience has not been used for any activity removed.

VoteSource Accounts – this article contains information that will not be relevant to all recipients of the Newsletter.

VoteSource user accounts can be created by anyone aiding the Party – but they require authorisation before they can be accessed.

A very important reminder for everyone following the recent elections – VoteSource Support do not automatically approve all new user requests.

Association and local Campaign Teams should be approving new user requests as you ask people to sign up for accounts to assist with your campaigns. The VoteSource Support team will only approve a new user if we have an email instructing us to approve an account from a constituency organiser, campaign manager or higher. The email will need to also let us know where the user needs access to and what level of access they require.

Following on from the elections, it is an ideal opportunity for users with senior access to be checking who has access to VoteSource in your assigned areas. Remember – it is your responsibility to check who has access to the Party’s data and remove users who no longer require it.

If you go to Users, click on Existing Users, you will find lists of accounts recorded by the first letter of their last name. If you find a user account that is no longer required, simply click on their name and click the Details option. This is found above User Security. The page that loads will contain a Delete Account option.

Please note: You may find a user that you do not recognise, this does not mean they necessarily have access to your data. Remember to carefully check their Electoral Area Permission. It could be that they are a registered elector in your area but have access to another area legitimately. If in doubt, contact VoteSource Support and we will be happy to investigate.

This will also be an ideal opportunity to check if your users can access VoteSource correctly:

• If there is a Green U next to their name, this means the account is Unlocked and can be accessed.
• If there is a Red L next to their name, this means the account has become Locked because the wrong password has been entered.
• If there is a Blue F next to their name, this means the account has become Frozen due to inactivity.

Only VoteSource Support, campaign managers, campaign staff and constituency organisers can Unlock or Unfreeze accounts. If you have such access, you will find the Unlock and Unfreeze options in the same area as the Delete Account option.

Don’t forget to check the New Users list. It is the responsibility of associations and campaign managers to be approving legitimate requests for access. The VoteSource Support can only approve a new user if we have an email with authorisation from the association or relevant campaign staff.

GDPR Consent SMS

We are pleased to announce the new ability to record SMS consent in VoteSource from today Monday 21st June. This will allow the Party to contact individuals by SMS for events like polling days.

It is important to note straightway that all current mobile numbers held on VoteSource will not have consent retroactively added. It will need to be added subsequently to enable the holder of the number to receive SMS messages. This feature will be available in a constituents contact section when recording a new mobile number – and will be separate from the consent to ring the number. Both sections will need to be completed to ensure consent is recorded for calling and SMS.

At present there will not be the ability to extract mobile numbers with SMS consent from a target audience – this is something that will be coming in due course.

For more information there is a new user guide in the Help Centre:

“Constituent - Adding GDPR consent for SMS”