Voter File Strategies and Sources

A well-maintained list of voters, supporters, volunteers, and donors can be the foundation of a robust political trajectory for any candidate or organization.  Everyone knows the importance of targeted lists for mailing, walking, and phone calls during a campaign.  But the long-term value is squandered by too many who fail to save and organize what they learn; they find themselves starting from scratch for the next election.

Starting today, make sure you record everything you learn about people through event sign-in sheets, canvassing notes, phone banks, and automated polling.  Merge email lists, web sign-up and online donations data.  We recommend salesforce.com as a confidential and permanent place for candidates to keep and work with their data both during and between elections.  Service is offered free to qualified 501(c)(3) organizations, and there are low cost options for others.

As for the source of the data, there’s no one-size-fits-all that we can recommend.  We’ve researched the alternatives for our clients and would be happy to point you in the right direction.  Just give us a call and explain your situation.
1. We partner with certain Texas companies who provide customized voter files and lists for political campaigns.
2. We can get public data from the county, then process through post office and telephone databases to add current and usable addresses and phone numbers. 
3. We can combine local county data with a purchased voter list from one of the national vendors of voter files.
4. Texas Democrats—even running for non-partisan office—may use the Texas Democratic Party’s voter file for a very reasonable price.   txdemocrats.org/resources/van

The technical details are less important than the prioritization and commitment of your organization to building and maintaining this critical asset on an ongoing basis.  Make the collection and entry of data a priority during the campaign.  After Election Day, organize the data, keep it fresh, and use it to stay in touch.  Databases are one of the few things that actually get better with use!