October VoteSource Newsletter

Welcome to the October edition of the VoteSource Newsletter.

Missed our last edition? Catch up by clicking here.

Or click here to browse all previous editions.

In this edition we look at the upcoming new feature of Party Organisations and examine in VoteSource Fundamentals how to enable Mobile Canvassing.

We also have a reminder on the VoteSource Support teams contact details, so please check carefully to make sure you are using the right contact details!

We also have an article from the Insights Department to help guide and advise with your campaigning efforts.

Party Organisations

We are pleased to announce a new upcoming feature for VoteSource. Our developers and other departments in CCHQ have been working on the new Party Organisation section that will be a new version of Bluebook and releasing soon.

Bluebook is the Party’s directory of association officers and office contact details. Formerly, this database was kept separate from VoteSource and updated by emailing the required details to CCHQ. So, we are pleased to announce Party Organisation Positions, which will replace Bluebook’s functionality and will be available on VoteSource. We do not have a set release date yet, as the team are still finalising it, but will announce the date as soon as possible.

What is the new Party Organisation?

The new Party Organisation feature is currently updated by the Bluebook team. However, once the Party Organisation feature is released, local organisations will have the ability to update and amend their association officers on it rather than contacting Bluebook. This will ensure association and federation details are kept up to date.

The benefits of Party Organisation and how it works

It will allow local users to update officers, their contact details and association details in real time. That means greater transparency and more accurate communications from the central Party. As well as ensuring the correct details can be provided to the Electoral Commission.

Users with access to more than one area, for example campaign staff, will be able to use the Party Organisation directory to find out information that they require by Region, Area and Electoral Area. For example, they can use the Party Organisation to find out the contact information of their local organisation and their officers and staff.

When can Party Organisation be accessed?

Access to the Party Organisation Positions system is being slowly phased in, and it will take some time before access is granted to association staff. Please keep an eye on the News section in VoteSource for more information. When Party Organisation Positions goes live, Help Centre user guides will also be made available.

Will there be any ‘How To’ instructions for the Party Organisation?

Yes, there will be fifteen user guides ready for use to assist with all Party Organisation queries in the Help Centre section on VoteSource. Below is the list of all the user guides that will be available.

• User guide - Candidates and Prospective Candidates
• User guide - Contacts – For Head of the association, Constituency Organiser, Campaign Manager and ACM.
• User guide - Contacts Information- User view only
• User guide - Current campaign teams
• User guide - Current Officers and Staff
• User guide - Elected Representatives- Current Elected Representatives
• User guide - Elected Representatives- Former Elected Representatives
• User guide - Former Candidates and Prospective Candidates
• User guide - Former Officers and Staff
• User guide - National Position- Add Position
• User guide - Officers and staff- Add an appointee
• User guide - Officers and staff- How to Edit an Appointee
• User guide - Regional Area
• User guide - Former Campaign Teams
• User guide - Party Organisations Summary

When Party Organisation Positions is made available, it is vitally important that all details currently recorded on the system are checked and updated where necessary. The data that will be found in the system is what is currently believed to be correct at CCHQ and is what is reported to the relevant legal bodies. Please keep informing CCHQ of officer changes via the current route until told otherwise.

If you have any questions regarding Party Organisation Positions, please contact the VoteSource Support team at votesourcesupport@conservatives.com and we can assist you.

VoteSource Support Working hours

As some readers will already be aware, working hours have recently changed for all employees of CCHQ. This means that the VoteSource Support team’s hours have also changed.

VoteSource Support, like other departments in CCHQ, now operates from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. This came into effect on the 1st of September 2021.

Our email responses and voicemail message have already been updated to reflect these changes.

Please be aware that VoteSource Support will continue to work extended hours during election periods, but these will be well advertised in advance and during those periods.

This is also an opportunity to remind readers that our old email address, which had the word helpdesk in it – is no longer used or checked by ourselves. This has been the case since June 2020 and we do regularly advertise our new email via all our communications.

However, we are aware that a small number of people have continued to use this email regardless.

Please can we remind all readers that our contact details are:

020 7984 8000

votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

Please check that you have our correct contact details and are aware of our new working hours.

VoteSource Fundamentals – Mobile Canvass

Continuing our series of how you can use a target audience for campaigning, this month we will look at enabling a target audience for use with mobile canvassing.

This is an important element to get right for campaigning. Mobile canvassing can save you time and resources as all that is required is: the VoteSource canvasser app, a mobile canvass enabled target audience, login details and a mobile phone or tablet/iPad.

Firstly, if you missed our article on how to set up a target audience you can click here to read that before moving on to this stage. If you are new to VoteSource we recommend doing so.

It is important to know that mobile canvassing can only be used in conjunction with the VoteSource canvasser app. If you are planning on making use of this exciting feature, please ensure your campaigners have downloaded the app and created a VoteSource account ahead of the campaign session. This prep and planning will ensure your campaign session runs smoothly. The app is available on Apple, Android and Microsoft app stores.

You are not limited to just collecting VIs with the VoteSource Canvasser app, you can also create digital surveys and set them up for use with the app allowing you to collect all sorts of useful information and feed it straight back into VoteSource.

Data entered via mobile devices is uploaded directly to VoteSource without you having to print canvass cards, surveys or spend time entering the data manually via data entry.

To enable mobile canvassing from a target audience you or a colleague has created, simply go to the Enabled Activities section of the target audience. When the next page loads, you will find the option to enable Mobile Canvassing as the fourth option under the Doorstep heading.

Simply toggle the tab next to Mobile Canvassing to on to start setting up your mobile session. You will need to select a survey, voting intention type and whether you want members to be marked as such when people are campaigning, so your canvassers know when they knock on the door that the occupant is a member of the Party.

Survey

There are a variety of survey options available, some nationally available and others made locally. You can either set up a canvassing session or a survey session – if you have a digital survey template set up in VoteSource. For more information on how to create a digital survey template please refer to the Help Centre user guides. These can be found when you log into VoteSource, under the heading of Surveys.

Simply select the option that suits your campaigning needs best. Please be aware you will need to select a data protection statement if you plan to collect phone numbers and emails.

Voting Intention

This option allows you to choose the type of Last Known Voting Intention that appears on your canvassers screens.

For example, if you are campaigning for a local election you can choose to display Voting Intentions that have been recorded as Local.

You can also select Any and the very last Voting Intention recorded for any type of election will be displayed.

Simply select the option that suits your campaigning needs best.

Display Members

Please note the ability to display members is only available to users with access to membership data. Once enabled though, users who cannot access membership data will be able to view if a person is a member on the mobile canvassing session.

If you wish for your canvassers to know that the person they are speaking with is a member, simply toggle this option to Yes.

Once you have selected your required options, simply click Enable Mobile Canvass and then select Manage activity.

The page that loads will display information about the current canvassing session but all you need to do at this point is click Start Mobile Canvass to make the session live for your campaign.

If you have any questions or are still not sure on how to enable mobile canvassing please do contact our support team on 020 7984 8000 or votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

Campaigning advice from Insights

0-10 Canvassing

Are you making the most of your volunteers’ time on the doorstep? It’s important to get accurate voting intentions, and 0-10 canvassing has been proved to be the best way of doing that. Email insight@conservatives.com for more details.

Incumbency Targets

Not sure how to target your campaigning activity at this time of year? We’ve loaded a few different sorts of target voters so you can get the best return from your volunteers’ time. They include people who are likely to be new Conservative supporters, those who are likely to be low turnout Conservatives, and others too. Email insight@conservatives.com for more details.