Creating a Virtual Phonebank List on VAN

This is an example of how to create a simple phonebank list of people within a geographic boundary that we've reached out to within the past 12 months. This tutorial includes creating the list, loading it into a phonebank, setting up the virtual phonebank for volunteers, editing an existing search and reviewing canvass results. For more information, refer to the Digital Product Support Resource Index found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VlkyVgl1f7MJVFSZlI1UlJHo_2rzgUgv5LV-6HT_Ruw/ed

Gabriel Silva
118 steps
6 minutes

Openvpb

Targetsmartvan

Navigate to [https://www.targetsmartvan.com/SelectCommittee.aspx](https://www.targetsmartvan.com/SelectCommittee.aspx)

Click this dropdown.

Click "Sierra Club Foundation (c3)"

Click here.

Click this button.

Click "Create a List"

Click the "Addresses" field.

Click this text field.

[[There are a variety of ways to choose a geographic boundary. A common search filter used is to search for supporters within a radius of a specific zipcode. For this example, we want to phonebank anyone within a radius of 12208]]

Type "5"

Click this text field.

Type "12208"

Click "Preview My Results"

[[You always want to 'preview my results' after every step to ensure you're getting the numbers you're looking for and that it's not showing 0 people.]]

Click "5,156"

[[In this case, the list is still too big so we are going to add another search filter. To narrow the list down to one that will be more useful for phonebanking, we will filter by canvass status. Canvass is a broad term for any kind of outreach we've done whether that's through email, phone, door knocking, etc.]]

Click the "Canvass Status" field.

Click this dropdown.

Click the "Canvassed" field.

Click "Preview My Results"

Click "4,440"

We now have a list of people we've canvassed within 5 miles of 12208 but the list is too big and it includes people we've canvassed at any point in time. To make it a smaller and more responsive list, we'll narrow down to people we've canvassed specifically in the last 12 months.

Click this dropdown.

Click this text field.

Click "<<"

Click "12"

Click this text field.

Click "12"

Click "948"

948 people is a much more manageable list than 4440 but it is still too big so we will now shorten the radius around 12208 until we reach the list size we are looking for.

Click this text field.

Type " [[Backspace]] 3"

Click here.

Click "480"

A list of 480 people could be a good size if you have multiple volunteers calling off this list for multiple phonebank sessions but we are going to shoot for something in the 100-300 range for this example so we will shorten the radius further.

Click this text field.

Type "2"

Click "Preview My Results"

Click "173"

Great, looks like 2 was the magic number for the range we were looking for. Now that we have the right sized list, I will run the search to show a useful trick to make the list more phonebank friendly.

Click "Run Search"

Click "(320) 217-2684"

As you can see here, when you pull a list, you will often have at least some people show up on the list without phone numbers. To avoid having your phonebankers click through pages of people with no phone numbers, we will go back and edit our search to include only people with listed phone numbers.

Click "Edit Search"

Click "Edit Existing Search"

Click the "Phones" field.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click "Preview My Results"

Click "156"

Click here.

Click "(518) 459-7552"

Now that we added a search filter to include phone numbers, we removed 17 names that we would not have been able to call.

Now our list is complete. the Next step is to load the list into a virtual phonebank to create a link that you can share with volunteers

Click here.

Click the "Set up Virtual Phone Bank List" field.

Click this button.

Click the "Use this static list (Fixed set of people)" field.

The difference between saving it as a static list and saving the search criteria is that the static list will pull the list as it exists in that moment in time and it won't update. the saved search criteria option will mean that your list can grow as your data comes in. You want to save the search criteria if this is a regularly occurring phonebank that you will use for a long period of time when you expect new data to feed into it. For example, if you wanted to create a similar list to phonebank people who have attended any event in the last 6 months, you could save the search criteria and if you were to phonebank the list 2 months later, it would be a new list of folks whereas with the static list, you'd see the same list of people regardless of how much time has passed. To save a search criteria, you'll have to choose an existing folder or create a new one to put it in.

Click the "Save and use my search criteria" field.

Click the "Use this static list (Fixed set of people)" field.

For this example, we are sticking with a static list.

Click this button.

Click the "Name" field.

to load a list into a phonebank, you'll need to have a script written in VAN. To see a tutorial for how to create a script, click here.

Type "test 2"

For this example we are using an existing script. For a tutorial on how to load a script into a VAN phonebank, see this [scribe.](https://scribehow.com/shared/Loading_a_script_into_a_phonebank__LqZBX2FaQ9ebB2ohuC74HQ)

Click "C3 Training Script"

Click the "End Date" field.

Choose whenever you'd like the phonebank to expire.

Click "30"

Click "Publish to [openvpb.com](http://openvpb.com)"

This step is crucial if you want volunteers to phonebank without having to give them VAN access. On openvpb.com, they'll be able to make an account with their email address and click on your link to start phonebanking for you.

Click "Publish to [openvpb.com](http://openvpb.com)"

The next few steps are if you want to edit the information that's visible to you and the other phonebankers while you're making calls.

Click "Contact & Location Information"

Click the "Voting City and Zip" field.

Click "Editable Contact Details"

Click "Additional Contact Details"

Click this button.

Click here.

Once you click next you'll be given the link that you can send to your volunteers. They can also input the code above the link into openvpb.com to find your phonebank

Click "[https://www.openvpb.com/vpb_bycode/DDB9D5K-523896](https://www.openvpb.com/vpb_bycode/DDB9D5K-523896)"

Click "Get Started"

Click this button.

Now that you've clicked save, the phone bank should show up for you in your list of phonebanks if you click o virtual phonebank on the left.

Click "Virtual Phone Bank"

Click the "test 2" field.

Click this button.

These next few steps are to show what you can see on the VAN side of an active phonebank

100

Click "[mstenson@aol.com](mailto:mstenson@aol.com)"

101

Click "(***) ***-0901Set Preferred"

102

Click "(Data originally entered in a different database)"

103

Click "No survey responses"

104

Click "Sierra Club Foundation (c3)"

105

Click this field.

106

Click "No events"

107

The next few steps are to show how you can keep track of who's made how many calls and when by checking Canvass Results.

108

Click "Canvass Results"

109

Click this dropdown.

110

Click here.

111

Click this text field.

112

Click here.

113

Click this text field.

114

Click "12"

115

Click this text field.

116

Click "12"

117

Click this button.

118

Now you should have a phonebank list loaded into a phonebank whose progress you can monitor. Good luck!

Creating a Virtual Phonebank List on VAN

Gabriel Silva
118 steps
6 minutes

Openvpb

Targetsmartvan

Navigate to [https://www.targetsmartvan.com/SelectCommittee.aspx](https://www.targetsmartvan.com/SelectCommittee.aspx)

Click this dropdown.

Click "Sierra Club Foundation (c3)"

Click here.

Click this button.

Click "Create a List"

Click the "Addresses" field.

Click this text field.

Type "5"

Click this text field.

Type "12208"

Click "Preview My Results"

[[You always want to 'preview my results' after every step to ensure you're getting the numbers you're looking for and that it's not showing 0 people.]]

Click "5,156"

Click the "Canvass Status" field.

Click this dropdown.

Click the "Canvassed" field.

Click "Preview My Results"

Click "4,440"

Click this dropdown.

Click this text field.

Click "<<"

Click "12"

Click this text field.

Click "12"

Click "948"

948 people is a much more manageable list than 4440 but it is still too big so we will now shorten the radius around 12208 until we reach the list size we are looking for.

Click this text field.

Type " [[Backspace]] 3"

Click here.

Click "480"

Click this text field.

Type "2"

Click "Preview My Results"

Click "173"

Click "Run Search"

Click "(320) 217-2684"

Click "Edit Search"

Click "Edit Existing Search"

Click the "Phones" field.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click this text field.

Click here.

Click "Preview My Results"

Click "156"

Click here.

Click "(518) 459-7552"

Now that we added a search filter to include phone numbers, we removed 17 names that we would not have been able to call.

Now our list is complete. the Next step is to load the list into a virtual phonebank to create a link that you can share with volunteers

Click here.

Click the "Set up Virtual Phone Bank List" field.

Click this button.

Click the "Use this static list (Fixed set of people)" field.

Click the "Save and use my search criteria" field.

Click the "Use this static list (Fixed set of people)" field.

For this example, we are sticking with a static list.

Click this button.

Click the "Name" field.

to load a list into a phonebank, you'll need to have a script written in VAN. To see a tutorial for how to create a script, click here.

Type "test 2"

Click "C3 Training Script"

Click the "End Date" field.

Choose whenever you'd like the phonebank to expire.

Click "30"

Click "Publish to [openvpb.com](http://openvpb.com)"

The next few steps are if you want to edit the information that's visible to you and the other phonebankers while you're making calls.

Click "Contact & Location Information"

Click the "Voting City and Zip" field.

Click "Editable Contact Details"

Click "Additional Contact Details"

Click this button.

Click here.

Once you click next you'll be given the link that you can send to your volunteers. They can also input the code above the link into openvpb.com to find your phonebank

Click "[https://www.openvpb.com/vpb_bycode/DDB9D5K-523896](https://www.openvpb.com/vpb_bycode/DDB9D5K-523896)"

Click "Get Started"

Click this button.

Now that you've clicked save, the phone bank should show up for you in your list of phonebanks if you click o virtual phonebank on the left.

Click "Virtual Phone Bank"

Click the "test 2" field.

Click this button.

These next few steps are to show what you can see on the VAN side of an active phonebank

100

Click "[mstenson@aol.com](mailto:mstenson@aol.com)"

101

Click "(***) ***-0901Set Preferred"

102

Click "(Data originally entered in a different database)"

103

Click "No survey responses"

104

Click "Sierra Club Foundation (c3)"

105

Click this field.

106

Click "No events"

107

The next few steps are to show how you can keep track of who's made how many calls and when by checking Canvass Results.

108

Click "Canvass Results"

109

Click this dropdown.

110

Click here.

111

Click this text field.

112

Click here.

113

Click this text field.

114

Click "12"

115

Click this text field.

116

Click "12"

117

Click this button.

118

Now you should have a phonebank list loaded into a phonebank whose progress you can monitor. Good luck!