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Phone canvassing is a strategy where campaigns reach out directly to voters through phone calls or texts, aiming to identify supporters, persuade undecided voters, and drive turnout (GOTV). Unlike door-knocking, it requires fewer resources, reaches larger audiences quickly, and integrates easily with the campaign database and analytics.
- Campaigns initiate conversations to discuss issues and gauge support.
- Canvassers use calls or texts to engage voters, log responses, and drive action.
- Ideal for both persuasion and logistical voter communication.
| To know why phone canvassing is necessary before campaigning door-to-door, read this article: Phone banking and Canvassing – Your tools to win an election. |
Why Shift to phone canvassing?
Switching from traditional door-knocking to phone canvassing streamlines operations, especially when resources or safety concerns limit in-person outreach.
Key benefits:
- Reach over 100 voters per hour with predictive dialers.
- centralize voter data, scripts, and responses tracking in one place.
- scale outreach with fewer volunteers and real-time performance analytics.
Difference between telephone canvassing and text canvassing
| Telephone canvassing | Text canvassing |
| Conversations in text canvassing are less detailed than phone calls. Although P2P texts allow you to have a full conversation, they are rarely as detailed as a phone call. | Conversations in text canvassing are less detailed than phone calls.. Although P2P texts allow you to have a full conversation, it is rarely as detailed as a phone call. |
| Although text messages have a 98% open rate, about 69% of texters say they face problems with spam messages. This means, if you don’t have a reliable text canvassing script, you risk getting marked as spam. | Depending on the text messaging software you use, TCPA rules can obstruct text canvassing. The rule limits the use of automated text messages. |
| Phone canvassing calls typically have a 5 – 10% answer rate ( 5% on cell, 10% on landlines). So, calling more people is the only way to canvass more voters. | Text messages have a 98% open rate, but about 69% of texters say they face spam issues, so a good script is critical to avoid being flagged. |
Telephone canvassing is an excellent way to – Identify supporters – Collect information for deep canvassing – Persuading voters – GOTV efforts | Text message canvassing allows you to – Send voter registration links – Sharing election-day logistics – Following up after calls |
In this article, we are focusing on telephone canvassing (also called phone canvassing).
Is phone canvassing effective?
Les Republican Party, one of France’s major political parties, launched a campaign to recruit more volunteers for its team. In turn, the newly recruited and old volunteers had to set up campaigns in their respective cities and reach out to thousands of supporters.
Using phone banking, the party was able to:
- Recruit 800 volunteers.
- Set up phone banking campaigns from their systems.
- Make about 900,000 calls to supporters.
- Spend about 1,000,000 minutes (roughly 22 months!) on phone calls.
Before this election, canvassing exercise was done using ordinary telephone lines. Thus, it was:
- Tedious: Volunteers had to record data manually.
- Time-consuming: Volunteers checked numbers on one system and entered them in another. Bad numbers or unanswered calls only added to the total time.
- Complicated: Teams had to decide on calling lists every day, coordinate with volunteers about progress, and undertake preparatory work before every phone call.
Such issues can outweigh the advantages and effectiveness of phone canvassing. The Les Republicains Party used CallHub’s phone banking software, and all these challenges vanished.
This is one example of how phone banking can have a satisfactory impact. Historically, phone canvassing was the second-best way for voter outreach after door-to-door canvassing.
However, it would be a grave miscalculation to undermine its potential. Why? Here’s what studies say about GOTV using door Vs. phone canvassing:
| Door canvassing | Phone canvassing |
| A study showed that contact with MoveOn volunteers increased voter turnout by about 9%. | Manual dialing rings about 30 numbers every hour while using a predictive dialer can increase this to 110 numbers per hour. |
| A volunteer can knock on an average of 20 doors per hour (persuasion and voter registration may take longer than GOTV efforts, thus decreasing the number of houses the volunteer visits per hour). | It requires fewer volunteers and more time to canvass x voters. |
| Requires more volunteers and time to canvass x voters. | Requires fewer volunteers but more calling time to reach the same voter count. If you are calling the same 3600 voters with phone banking, just a half-hour of overtime would let the team reach their goal of 3600 voters in one shift! |
| Manual dialing rings about 30 numbers every hour, while using a predictive dialer can increase this to 110 numbers per hour. | If your canvass list has 3,600 houses and 10 volunteers, each volunteer targets 360 houses. At ~20 doors per hour, that’s 18 hours per volunteer. With 3-hour shifts, they’ll finish in about 6 days. |
In many communities, door-knocking is no longer welcome as it once was. whether due to safety concerns, privacy preferences, or simply a busier lifestyle. This makes phone canvassing an even more valuable first touchpoint. Once you understand which of your identified supporters prefer door-knocking, you can shortlist them and send volunteers to have a conversation.
To make phone canvassing campaigns effective,
- Conversations must be long-lasting and meaningful.
- Volunteers must have some intel about the people they call, so interactions are more organic.
- Callers must clearly understand objectives (collecting information, GOTV, or persuasion).
Ready to up your political canvassing game? Check out this must-read article on the effectiveness of political canvassing!
Shifting from door-knocking to phone canvassing (step-by-step)
Door-knocking requires hundreds of volunteers to knock on thousands of doors (it is estimated that a single volunteer knocks on 20 doors per hour).
Political campaigns can shift their base to phone canvassing entirely or majorly. But how do you make this shift?
Step 1: Collate data from your door-canvassing apps, software, and databases. This information includes
- Names, addresses, and contact information of supporters
- Their voting preferences
- Issues that they feel strongly about
- Voter registration status
- If they are willing to volunteer for your campaign.
Step 2: Filter in the phone numbers to add to your new database. Maintain addresses of supporters who haven’t provided numbers.
Step 3: Invest in phone banking software that integrates with CRMs and allows the import of contact lists (like CallHub). If the software can import data from your door canvassing apps or databases, you can skip Step 2 entirely.
| If you are an Ecanvasser user, here’s how to import your data into CallHub. 1. Go to the AppStore page from your Ecanvasser dashboard. Click on the CallHub app and install it. 2. Sign in to your CallHub account and get your API key. (Account – Settings – API Key) 3. Use your primary email connected with CallHub and the API key on the Ecanvasser App Store page. 4. Log in. Select the contacts [All voters/ particular list(s)] you want to sync with your CallHub account. (Audience – select lists – save). Check out CallHub’s integration with ecanvasser! This powerful combination will help you streamline your canvassing efforts and maximize your impact. |
| NGPVan users can export their saved turfs, walk lists, or contact numbers as CSV sheets into CallHub. [Log in to your CallHub account – Select ‘Create’ under the Call Center tool – Add details on the “Script” page – Click Next – Choose Contact List(s)] Take your political phone canvassing to the next level with CallHub’s integration with NGP VAN! This powerful combo will help you increase your reach and engagement while saving you time and effort. |
Step 4: Train campaign volunteers to use the new tools.
Step 5: Start calls early, weeks before election day, depending on campaign goals and volunteeer availability.
Along with the main objectives, your phone banking script must also ask:
- What channels do they want follow-up communication to occur on
- Whether the voter prefers in-person conversation
- If they have a preferred time for the visit
Step 6: Follow up with P2P text messages, phone calls, or emails periodically to stay top-of-mind.
Plan volunteer and staff visits only to the houses of supporters who prefer it. Include the addresses of people who haven’t provided contact details and haven’t yet been canvassed.
How does phone banking work?
Over a few weeks, phone banking is a dynamic process undertaken by hundreds of volunteers.
This process can be long and tedious. After all, you call thousands of people and ideally have at least a 3-minute conversation with each.
While the time volunteers spend on phone calls is worth the effort, phone banking software can reduce the time spent dialing numbers and help you centralize all your data in one easy-to-access place.
Read Also: Phone canvassing dos and don’ts.
How Phone banking software helps
Phone banking software like CallHub offers the following features:
- Easy automatic dialing that makes at least 3X more calls per minute than manual dialing
- A choice of outbound dialers (predictive dialer, preview dialer and power dialer)
- Integration with CRMs
- Unlimited volunteer accounts
- Enables callers to record contact history and survey responses on the tool and have it sync back to a CRM
- Rent local numbers for canvassing campaigns
CallHub offers three varieties of dialers to choose from. Depending on the number of people you are calling and the objective of your campaign, choose from:
- Predictive Dialer
- Power Dialer
- Preview Dialer
| Predictive Dialer | Power Dialer | Preview Dialer | |
| How it works | Automatically adjusts the dialing ratio. Since calls are dialed before an agent becomes free that they can immediately move on to the next call. Busy, unanswered, and bad numbers are automatically skipped. | When your campaign is about registering or persuading voters, volunteers must research them thoroughly. A preview dialer lets you search for such contacts, review their choices, and causes before dialing the number. | A predictive dialer dials numbers ahead of time and connects only answered calls to agents. With agents being connected to the next phone call as soon as they are done with one, you can ensure that most of their time is spent talking to voters rather than waiting for them to pick up. |
| Rate of calling | The predictive dialer makes 3x more calls per hour than a manual dialer. One caller can dial 45 numbers in an hour and make 25 calls. | A power dialer dials the next number in the queue only when the caller indicates that they are done with the current call. This allows volunteers time to fill out surveys and read up on the next caller before dialing the number. | The rate of dialing in a preview dialer varies according to the time taken for research before every call. |
| Unique features | Gives agents access to the entire contact list. They can view information on the contact, swap to someone else in the household, see the history of calls made to the contact, and well as notes associated with the calls. | You can adjust the dial rate according to your average answer rates. For instance, if your average answer rate is 40%, set the dial rate to 2:1. The power dialer will call two numbers at a time and connect the answered call with your agent. If both numbers are answered, one will receive a recorded message. | One agent can dial up to 70 calls every hour and expect to have 35 live calls. |
| Use cases | Automatically adjusts the dialing ratio. Since calls are dialed before an agent becomes free so that they can immediately move on to the next call. Busy, unanswered, and bad numbers are automatically skipped. | Power dialers can help with: – Persuasion efforts – Voter canvassing – Voter registration | A preview dialer is an excellent tool for: – Voter ID campaigns – Voter registration – Persuasion efforts |
| Features common to all dialers | – Volunteers have the script as a guide on their screen at all times. – Create unlimited volunteer accounts that can be accessed from several locations. Maintain social distancing even among your team members. – Track call metrics, daily call reports, and agent performance. – The campaign creator (manager) can monitor live calls. Stay on mute on the call while the volunteer speaks with your supporters. Add surveys to the script and record answers directly into your CRM. – CallHub’s advanced analytics tool will evaluate your phone canvassing campaign and give you crucial information for the next one. |
On top of that, CallHub also offers volunteer management systems, phone number verification systems, and patch-through calls to make your phone canvassing campaign successful.
| Related Reading: Create the Perfect Phone Banking Script for Your Calling Campaign |
Sample phone canvassing scripts:
A good phone canvassing script:
- Guides first-time or new volunteers
- Ensures that all vital points are in place
- Eliminates potential glitches (like a volunteer having stage fright or not knowing the answer to a question, etc.)
Here are three sample scripts with three goals:
- Collecting voter information
- Persuasion
- GOTV efforts.
Sample script to collect information before volunteers go door-knocking
Questions to ask during voter ID:
| For supporters: Hello [name], this is [agent name] calling from Senator Jon’s campaign. Is this a good time to talk? Can Senator Jon count on your support? Response: Strong support/leaning support That’s awesome! Can you tell us about the issues you particularly care about at present? Noted. We are collecting information from supporters to better understand what we’re doing right and what can be improved. Do you mind answering a few questions for this survey? [Ask relevant questions, note answers] Thank you. That was super helpful. While we’re at it, would you like to help up with [phone banking/text banking/canvassing/data entry/fundraising/others]? We are always happy to have strong supporters like you further our cause. Great! We will share the [donation link/sign-up form] soon. Thank you very much for your time. |
| For non-supporters/undecided voters: Hello [name], this is [agent name] calling from Senator Jon’s campaign. Is this a good time to talk? Can Senator Jon count on your support? Response: Undecided/supports another candidate Can you tell me who your number one choice is at the moment?[Add opposition’s name] May I ask you what causes or issues you particularly care about? [List the causes] Senator Jon has taken up the [mention relevant issues] cause in his last term. Would you like to know about the reforms he brought about and the developments he is proposing? Answer: Not interested. No problem. Thank you for your time! Answer: YES. Great. Do you prefer our volunteer calling you later, or would you like to meet one of us in person?[Note answer] Can you share your address? [Add the address to your database]. Lovely. See you soon. Thank you very much for your time! |
Sample script for persuasion
Sample script for GOTV
| When the person is willing to vote: Hi, am I speaking with [name]? I am [agent name] calling from Senator Jon’s 2025 campaign. May I have a moment of your time? We aren’t asking about your voting preferences. We are only concerned about voters registering themselves for this election campaign. This election promises to bring much-needed reforms and conversations about [list latest issues]. By voting for your preferred party, you participate in this historic election. Do you plan to cast your vote on [date of the election]? Answer: YES That’s great! Do you require any information about your polling station or time? Answer: YES [mentions required details] No problem. We will get back to you with [details] by [mention timeframe] Answer: NO Great! See you at the polling station on [election day]. Thank you for your time. |
| When the person is not willing/undecided: Hi, am I speaking with [name]? I am [agent name] calling from Senator Jon’s 2025 campaign. May I have a moment of your time? We aren’t asking about your voting preferences. We are only concerned about voters registering themselves for this election campaign. This election promises to bring much-needed reforms and conversations about [list latest issues]. By voting for your preferred party, you participate in this historic election. Do you plan to cast your vote on [date of the election]? Answer: NO We would like to remind you that this election is significant for [mention location]. [Mention demographics/professions/neighborhoods/income groups closest to the voter] will be most impacted by this race outcome. Your voice can determine the future of [said category]. Please do consider voting. Changed answer to YES. That’s great! Do you have information on your polling station and time? If not, we can look it up and get back to you with the details shortly. Still undecided/unwilling. In case you change your mind, do you have information on your polling station and time? We can get back to you with the details shortly. Thank you for your time. We do hope to see you at the polling station on [election date]. |
Related Reading:
- 10 tips to win at political phone banking
- Ring in the Votes: Winning Phone Scripts for Political GOTV Campaigns
Phone canvassing is about securing support, but at the same time, it is about building relationships with the masses. A good script, efficient software, and competent volunteers can create strong grassroots support for your campaign.
Thus, the time and effort spent in calling thousands of people are ultimately worth it.
Do check out our phone banking software for a time-saving and obstacle-free election canvassing campaign.
Frequently asked questions in phone canvassing
What to Say When Canvassing
Introduce yourself, state your purpose (“I’m here from [campaign] to talk about [issue/candidate]”), ask a simple question (“Can we count on your support?”), Share key info (polling place, registration), and thank them for their time. Keep it polite, short, and conversational.
Is Door-to-Door Canvassing Soliciting?
Usually, no. Political canvassing is considered free speech, not commercial solicitation. Most laws treat it differently from selling or fundraising.
Is Door-to-Door Canvassing Illegal?
Generally legal but must follow local rules: respect “no canvassing” signs, avoid trespassing, and follow time restrictions. In India, comply with the Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct.
Election Canvassing Rules
- Identify yourself and your campaign.
- Don’t campaign during restricted hours.
- Avoid false promises, defamatory speech, or religious/caste appeals.
- Leave immediately if asked.
