Canvas better with this free app built with Glide technology that already has thousands of users.
Organizers can use the canvassing app to:
- Contact any list of addresses or people - and isn't limited to the Voter File
- Have multiple canvassers work against the same list at the same time
- Multiple canvassers can work from the same list of contacts at the same time
- Can be used on any phone, tablet or laptop
- Produces a map with walking routes for canvassers
- Check to see if a person has already been contacted as that location disappears from the map
Did I mention that this Glide based app is free and already has thousands of users?
Canvassing in South Carolina
Center For Common Ground wanted to make encourage residents of Darlington, SC to make sure they were registered for an upcoming municipal election. They had a list of of several hundred residents to be canvassed and a dozen volunteers. They had to canvas quickly and do it with it no money. This blog explains how they conducted a canvassing campaign with the free Glide app. Volunteers contacted people from a shared list using an app on their phones and a map to coordinate their activities and avoid contacting the same person twice.
How the canvassing app works
The list of people to be contacted was uploaded to a Google Sheet. This included the names and addresses of people to be canvassed along with columns where the information from the people contacted is stored. A separate tab in the Google sheet had instructions for volunteers on the questions they should ask people being canvassed. Any changes to the address list or notes would appear immediately in the cavnassers' app.
A Glide canvassing app was created in about two hours to work with this Google Sheet. The app is delivered as a link (URL) to volunteers so they do not have to instal any software on their phones. This also makes it easier to onboard more volunteer canvassers quickly.
Volunteers were assigned areas to canvas. They could do this either from a MAP VIEW or a LIST. Volunteers record note from their interaction in the app and all the results were updated into the Google Sheet. This also prevents the same person from being canvassed more than once by accident.
Glide is easy to use and can be used for canvassing, organizing and other applications. Apply to get pro bono help with nonprofit projects here.
Glide for canvassing apps
Glide provides amazingly easy-to-use technology to create apps. The free version of their app is adequate for most activists and smaller campaigns. The premium version of the Glide is about a dollar a day.
- Connect your data. Connect a Google Sheet or start from a template.
- Customize your app. Customize how your data is displayed, then tweak styles & layouts.
- Share with a link. Publish your app to the web and share the link with anyone.
Center For Common Ground
Center for Common Ground was founded to educate and empower under-represented voters in voter suppression states to engage in elections and advocate for their right to vote. It works with local partners across the country, we are running multiple campaigns to defend voting rights on the local, state and national level. Together with the help of our volunteers, we are educating and mobilizing voters of color in voter suppression states to take action and protect their right to vote.
Canvassing resources
Canvassing for H.R. 1 over Facetime
Grassroots canvassing made free and simple
A better way to find and canvas unregistered voters
A Free Canvassing App To Get Out The Vote With No Budget And Limited Time
How to design smart route plans for canvassing, campaigns and non-profits