The Best Canvassing And Phonebanking Tools To Win Elections

Phonebanking tools and door-to-door canvassing play a big part in election campaigns. Political campaigns use door-to-door canvassing as the most direct means of communicating with voters. 

On the other hand, phonebanking tools enable outreach to voters via calls, share campaign information, solicit funds, and conduct surveys at scale.

Tools specially designed for political campaigns will go a long way in boosting the efficacy of your campaign. Canvassing and phone banking strategies are key to winning elections. How? These tools help you:

1. Manage volunteers and agents
2. Determine your best door-knocking routes
3. Raise money for the campaign
4. Have conversations with supporters at scale
5. Micro-target your outreach efforts

We explore canvassing and phone banking tools to ease your campaign processes. Read on.

Canvassing and phonebanking tools to win elections

Before you begin searching for the perfect phone banking and canvassing tools, it’s essential to be clear about your specific requirements. 

Once you are aware of your goals and needs, you will know the kind of software features that will help your campaign. 

Before finalizing any of the software listed in the next section, consider the following essential features. They are:

1. Robodialers: Robodialers help you share a pre-recorded voice message with your entire list of contacts or a segment of it at once. It is the easiest way to communicate emergency information, relay short but relevant messages, and stay connected with voters.
2. Patch-through calling: Patch-through calling is an excellent way for campaign managers to connect potential voters and supporters directly with the candidate. Use it as a campaign incentive or increase local presence in new territories.
3. Fundraising: A bonus feature of canvassing and phone banking tools could include an in-built fundraising feature, the option to store donor contacts, or the ability to track donations to the campaign.
4. Route planning: Route planning features save time and effort for volunteers going door-to-door. A campaign manager can assign daily routes, and volunteers can follow them to ensure no locality is skipped or canvassed twice.
5. AI suite: Modern AI-powered tools can analyze voter data, predict engagement patterns, and offer smart recommendations to improve outreach. From segmenting audiences based on past interactions to optimizing call times and messages, a comprehensive AI suite can provide actionable insights, enhance targeting accuracy, and help campaigns make data-driven decisions faste
6. Live call monitoring: Real-time call monitoring helps campaign managers understand the quality of calls and the conversations agents have with potential voters. It enables you to improve a campaign for better results while it is still running.
7. Tag features: Want to know more details about a contact before making a call or visiting them? Tag features in canvassing tools enable you to understand contact history and demographic information based on the most recent interaction.

Now that you know about these important features, let’s explore different software that you can implement for your campaign.

Door-to-door canvassing tools: Ecanvasser

Source: Ecanvasser

Ecanvasser has built an all-in-one political campaigning software that allows you to plan and manage all aspects of your outreach. Their software helps teams save time, reduce costs, and gather key insights.

Features:

• Their walk app allows canvassing volunteers to easily track their route and informs them of their next destination. Managers can track canvassing activity in real-time.
• Their easy-to-navigate dashboard keeps all campaign data in one place. You don’t need to switch between apps to find your data. You can integrate ecanvasser with NationBuilder, MailChimp, and CallHub.
• Build your own polls, surveys, and database quickly.
• Easily coordinate with your team in different locations. You can create a virtual map of all your offices to build better relationships between supporters, volunteers, and your local team.
• Offers GDPR compliance for community network mapping and databases.

Pricing: Ecanvasser’s software starts at $99 per month. They also offer 7 days free trial. For more details, please visit the pricing page. 

Canvassing data gathering tool: Glide

Source: glide

Glide is a platform that helps you build robust web pages and apps without code. DemLabs has combined the power of Glide with Google spreadsheet to create the perfect canvassing data gathering tool. The result? This low-cost data-gathering tool helps volunteers enter information while on the canvassing trail.

Features:

• Use Glide’s canvassing template to enter data while on the go.
• Click on any location to receive updates and more details about the person a volunteer will contact.
• Canvassers can add information about new potential voters as and when they encounter them. Data such as addresses, names, phone numbers, which canvasser contacted the new voter, and more can all be added through this feature.
• Once you upload voter data or enter new information, addresses are reflected on the canvassing map for canvassers to follow and contact.

Pricing: Starts at $199 billed yearly. Please refer to their pricing page for more information. 

Canvassing guide: Esri Maps for Public Policy with The Democracy Labs

Source: Esri Maps for Public Policy

The Democracy Labs, in association with Esri Maps for Public Policy, created a canvassing software that can help you find potential voters through demographic details. With Esri Maps, you can locate and understand population patterns in different areas and target them accordingly.

Features:

• Cross-reference insights with voter lists.
• Locate voters based on demographics such as race, gender, income status.
• Create customized dashboards in association with DemLabs for your campaign.

Pricing: For more details, check their website

Fundraising tool: CallHub’s Text-to-donate 

CallHub’s Text-to-Donate makes fundraising easy by letting donors give in the moment they’re inspired — all via SMS. It reduces friction (no long forms), making the act of giving as simple as sending a text and tapping a link. 

Features:

• Full-funnel visibility: Track who receives your message, clicks, and donates in real-time.
• New vs. returning donors: Instantly see which supporters are giving for the first time or returning.
• Donation amounts & ROI: Monitor exactly how much you raised and the return on your campaign investment.
• Integrates with existing fundraising stack: Connect seamlessly with your CRM, email, and other tools.

Phone banking tool: CallHub

CallHub is a leading communication software, mainly catering to the outreach needs of political and nonprofit organizations. With its various calling and texting phonebanking tools, CallHub’s software is an excellent choice for any political campaign since it helps you reach thousands of contacts in a minimal amount of time.

Features:

• Range of Dialers: CallHub offers multiple dialers to suit different campaign needs:

1. Auto dialer: Automatically dials voters from your list and connects them to an agent, ideal for high-volume outreach efforts, such as GOTV campaigns.
2. Preview dialer: Lets agents see voter info before the call, ideal for personalized persuasion calls.
3. Predictive dialer: Uses algorithms to anticipate agent availability and connect calls efficiently, reducing idle time in large-scale campaigns.
4. Power dialer: Dials the next number only when you’re ready, letting you focus on each call and take notes efficiently. Ideal for deep, issue-focused conversations

• Text follow-up: You can combine the power of calling and texting by immediately sharing a text message follow-up after each call. Create a lasting impression on voters and donors through immediate follow-up.
• Dynamic Caller ID: Boost your call pickup rates with dynamic caller ID features. Volunteers from any geographical area can call a potential voter, and the dynamic caller ID feature will reflect a local number. For example, if your volunteers are based in New York and are calling voters in Texas, CallHub’s system will reflect a local caller ID if you sign up for the dynamic caller ID feature.
• Spam label shield: Keep your calls from being flagged as spam. For example, during a high-volume GOTV drive, it ensures all 50,000+ calls reach voters without being blocked or sent to voicemail.
• AI-driven smart insights: Analyze call data with AI to identify patterns, predict voter responsiveness, and optimize outreach strategy. For example, the system can suggest which voter segments are most likely to answer or donate based on previous interactions
• Time zone calling: CallHub helps you stay compliant through its timezone calling features. Select your campaign’s timezone, and the system will detect the timings to stop and start the campaign every day based on that timezone. 

Pricing: CallHub offers two pricing models—Standard and Enterprise. For detailed pricing information, please contact our sales team.

Digital organizing: NGP VAN

NGP VAN is designed for democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations. A campaign of any size can use NGP VAN’s tools to smooth its run for office. They provide best-in-class fundraising, social media, and volunteer sign-up tools for your campaign. 

Features:

• Custom donation forms to increase fundraising.
• Donor management tools to ensure you nurture long-term relationships with supporters.
• Logistics tools for easy event management.
• They provide email sign-up forms, help you build your email lists, and increase conversions through their online action tools.
• Run optimized digital marketing campaigns through their platform.
• Their CRM system helps you save all your data on a single platform.

Pricing: You can learn more about NGP VAN’s pricing by booking a demo.

FAQs on phonebanking tools

Q1. What is a virtual phone bank?

A virtual phone bank is an online platform that helps volunteers call voters from anywhere.

Q2. What is phone bank politics?

Phone bank politics involves volunteers calling voters to persuade, inform, or mobilize them during campaigns.

Q3. How do I use OpenVPB for a phone bank?

Log in to your provided OpenVPB link, access the contact list, and follow the call script to phone voters.

Q4. How do autodialers work, and are they safe for campaigns?

Autodialers automatically call voters and connect them to agents, while features like Spam Label Shield keep calls compliant and deliverable.

Q5. How can I assign volunteers effectively for phone banking and texting?

Segment voter lists and assign them to volunteers by geography or expertise to ensure efficient, targeted outreach.

What next?

Winning elections requires more than just calls and door knocks — it requires smart, scalable, and compliant outreach. CallHub’s all-in-one phone banking and canvassing platform gives campaigns everything they need:

• Smarter outreach: AI-powered insights tell you the sentiments of the contacts
• Seamless engagement: Switch between calls, texts, and mail in one platform.
• Volunteer-friendly: Intuitive dashboards and automated routing make it easy for volunteers of all backgrounds to participate.
• Fundraising built in: Raise money directly through text-to-donate and track donations in real time.
• Compliance first: Dynamic caller IDs, time zone scheduling, and spam shield keep your campaign safe and effective.
  

Whether you’re running a local election or scaling up to a nationwide campaign, CallHub helps you reach more voters and build stronger connections. 

Give us a try for your canvassing needs by signing up for CallHub. 

Featured Image Source: Anete Lusina

Shiksha Sharma

Shiksha Sharma is a Content Marketer with over 5 years of experience in the B2B SaaS industry. She has extensively written about software that helps organizations work easily. Her areas of research include politics, nonprofits, advocacy, and business.