• 7 Questions W/ Nathaniel Pearlman the Great Battlefield Podcast

    Oct 16, 2019 by Elena Veatch

    Headphones hanging on "on air" sign behind microphone

    Nathaniel Pearlman talks progressive politics and political technology

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  • Voter File Tips for Your Campaign

    Sep 20, 2018 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    Top Campaign Voter File Tips

    Campaign Voter File: Tips to Use Your Campaign Data 

    On any campaign, having access to good voter file is important. For good reason, the trend on most modern political campaigns has been to be data driven. But there are many pitfalls to avoid when using political data and a lot of ways that political data can go wrong. So it’s important that there’s always a human on the other end of that data asking questions and using reason instead of just taking the data at its face value. Below are a few top tips on how to successfully use political campaign data.

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  • Political Data: Don’t Let Perfect Be the Enemy of Good

    Jun 26, 2017

    political data

    Find the Right Mix When Using Political Data for Digital Advertising

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  • Democratic Direct Mail Targeting

    Dec 12, 2013 by The Campaign Workshop

    Campaign Basics: A Guide to Democratic Direct Mail Targeting

    Democratic Direct Mail Targeting - Using Advanced Data & Models

    Democratic direct mail targeting used to be seen as a mysterious realm where political consultants pulled voter targets out from behind a magic curtain. With the advent of modern voter file software by folks like Catalist, NGP VAN, Targetsmart, NationBuilder and L2, you can have direct access to the voter data and models you need to make targeting decisions for your campaign. But if this is the first time you are running a campaign or working with voter data, here are some tips for Democratic direct mail targeting, these tips will also be helpful in developing your field and phone program.

    Get access to a good voter file. You should be able get access to a good voter file through your Democratic state party, but in some municipal campaigns and primaries that might not be possible. Some other options to look at for Democratic direct mail targeting are Catalist, Labels and Lists, and NationBuilder. They – and a number of other firms – all have good voter files and most offer at least some basic models to help you identify your best targets.

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  • Advanced Micro Targeting: Campaign Data Targeting Is Key to Winning

    Oct 31, 2013 by The Campaign Workshop

    Advanced Targeting Is Key to WInning

    Advanced Micro Targeting Tips for Your Campaign

    Advanced micro targeting can be the advantage you need to win your campaign. Before we get deep into micro targeting voter modeling other advanced targeting,  let’s start off by defining targeting so that we are all on the same page. This is a basic rule for all campaigns: candidates, ballot, independent expenditure, etc. Political data targeting (sometimes referred to as micro targeting) is looking at your whole district or universe and then narrowing it down to the people you need to communicate with to win. Every campaign has limits - people, time, money or all of the above. Effectively targeting helps you use your limited resources as effectively as possible.

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  • Political Organizers Top Tips for Campaign Data Entry | TCW

    Jun 19, 2013 by Ben Holse (he/him)

    data entry tips for political organizers

    Political Organizers Top Campaign Tips for Data Entry:

    For political organizers, data entry and turf cutting are the two most likely tasks that will be keeping you up late into the night. Unlike cutting turf, which can be strangely comforting, data entry is only really enjoyable when it is complete. So to help out political organizers still in the field we have compiled a short list of tips to make data entry a bit easier.

    1. There are a number of campaign tools now available that can help reduce the amount of data that you have to enter at the end of the day. The technology exists for canvassers to enter data on their smartphones or tablets while they are canvassing and for phone bankers to input data in a virtual phone bank as they make each call. Check out or list of 100 campaign tools for political organizers here. For a paper list, you may also be able to use the barcoding feature, provided that you can get your hands on a barcode scanner. It is possible that your campaign will not have these pieces of technology on-hand. If your campaign’s field program is set up to utilize these technologies, then be sure to ask your volunteers to bring in their personal technology to use when you call to remind them about their shifts.

    2. Throughout the course of the campaign, you will likely encounter an individual who wants to help, but refuses to do any voter contact. These individuals are prime targets for data entry. While your data volunteer is working, make sure that the individual knows their contribution is highly valued. Ask them if they can come in once or twice a week to help with data entry.

    3. If you are working with other organizers or other campaigns, coordinate data entry time so you can have conversations to keep you awake and alert. But at a certain point, you do have to just crank up the tunes and knock it out.

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