Door-to-door canvassing is one of the most effective forms of voter contact available to any campaign. But canvassing rural areas can present a unique set of challenges. The distances are longer, the contact rates are lower, and the logistics require more planning upfront. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing–it absolutely is. It just means you need to go in with the right strategy.
Below are our best tips for running a successful rural canvassing program, whether you’re a campaign staffer cutting turf for the first time or a volunteer hitting the doors in a sparsely populated county.
Think Through Your Targets:
When you’re pulling a list of rural canvass, open up your targeting specs as wide as you can. The goal is to create the densest turf possible given the geography you’re working with. You still want to be strategic, don’t pull voters who have no business being on your list, but under-targeting in a rural area will leave your canvassers driving long distances between doors with very little to show for it.
Are There Sidewalks?
This sounds basic, but it matters. When cutting turf, be conscious of where sidewalks exist and where they don’t. Walking on the side of a rural road, especially later in the day when you have low visibility, is not safe and not something you should ask your volunteers to do. Where sidewalks are absent, plan accordingly and flag it so canvassers know what to expect before they head out.
Plan Around Density:
Not all rural turfs are created equal. Identify your apartment complexes and any denser population centers within the area, and set those packets aside for volunteers who may not be up for long stretches on foot. Save the more sparsely populated packets (the ones with longer distances between doors) for more physically fit canvassers. Matching the turf to the canvasser makes your program more efficient and keeps your volunteers from burning out.
Driving and Walking:
When canvassing in rural areas, some groupings of houses will require canvassers to drive between them rather than walk. This seems obvious, but if you don’t spell it out on the packet, canvassers will assume they need to walk everywhere and waste a lot of time (and energy) figuring that out on their own. When you build your packets, note clearly which blocks or clusters of houses require driving and include that information with the turf. It's also worth factoring in fuel costs when planning your program—with the rising cost of gas, a rural canvass can add up quickly for volunteers using their own vehicles. Think through whether your campaign can offer mileage reimbursement or coordinate shared rides to staging locations. Your canvassers will thank you for it.
Think Doors and Phones:
Include phone numbers for household members in your canvass packets and ask canvassers to call any doors they are unable to reach on foot or by car. Phone contact is less effective than face-to-face conversation, but voter contact is voter contact. In a rural program where your overall contact rate is going to be lower, every touchpoint counts.
Train Your Team:
Before your canvassers head out, make sure they know what they’re getting into. Brief them on the turf (distances, road conditions, whether they’ll be driving between doors, and what the neighborhoods look like). Tell them to bring good shoes, plenty of water, a phone charger, and a paper map as a backup. Have water available at the staging location, especially for when canvassers return to turn in their packets. A well-prepared canvasser is a more effective canvasser.
Expect a Lower Contact Rate:
As mentioned above, this is just the reality of canvassing in rural areas. Your overall voter contact rate will be lower than it would be in a denser area, and you need to plan for that from the start. Build that assumption into your voter contact goals and plan your phone program accordingly to make up the difference. Going in with realistic expectations will save you from being caught off guard mid-program.
Use Your Time Wisely:
When cutting turf in sparsely populated areas, there will always be some households that don’t fit neatly into any turf packet. Don’t send a canvasser 10 minutes out of their way to knock on a single door. Pull those outlier households into a phone list instead. It’s a much better use of everyone’s time, and it keeps your canvasser focused on the doors that are actually worth the drive.
Pick the Right Time:
In rural areas, households are far less likely to be canvassed a second time, which means your first visit really counts. Be thoughtful about when you schedule your canvases. Think about when people are likely to be home and also when they’re likely to be out. Avoid scheduling around major local sporting events, church services, or other community activities. Getting the door when someone is actually there to answer is half the battle.
Don’t rush:
You drove out to this community. Make the most of it. Canvassing in rural areas is not a lit drop; it is a conversation. Take your time with voters, listen to what they have to say, and don’t rush through your script just to hit the next door. A genuine conversation at the door can leave a lasting impression, especially in a rural area where your canvassers may be the only ones knocking that season.
Follow up:
After the canvass, make sure you have a plan for following up with the voters your team contacted. Code voters by level of support and keep notes on the issues they raised. Whether your follow-up comes via mail, phone, email, text, having a clear plan in place before you head out makes the whole program more effective. Relationships matter, and relationships matter in rural communities. A good follow-up can win over voters who were on the fence at the door.
Where the Streets Have No Name:
If you got the reference, I’m glad.
Rural neighborhoods can be tricky to navigate. Roads may not be clearly marked, and street signs may be missing or hard to read. Before your team heads out, pull the most up-to-date maps you can find. Google Maps is a good starting point. Print backup copies for canvassers to carry. Walk your team through the turf at the staging location so they have a sense of the area before they’re standing in the middle of it alone. When in doubt, build extra time into the schedule to account for navigation challenges or roadblocks.
Be careful:
In general, people in rural areas are less likely to expect a random visitor, which means you need to approach doors thoughtfully and with care. A few non-negotiables: never canvass alone, no matter the area. Always go with a buddy. Be aware that it gets darker earlier in rural areas without streetlights, so plan your end time accordingly. And be alert around dogs–in rural areas, people are more likely to let their dogs roam freely, so pay attention as you approach each property and give yourself room to back off if needed. Your canvassers’ safety always comes first.
For more on how canvassing fits your broader voter contact strategy, check out our blog post with Dave Fleischer on the Power of Deep Canvassing for a look at how meaningful conversations can make a real difference.
Have questions about canvassing rural areas or need help building your field program? Drop us a note here.