The Campaign Glossary
A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
A
A/B Testing
A/B testing is a method of comparing two versions of something (e.g., an email) to figure out which performs better against determined goals and metrics. For example, a campaign may send two emails with slightly different subject lines to a portion of its email audience in order to determine which email gets opened the most.
ActBlue
ActBlue is the leading online fundraising platform used by Democratic candidates, progressive organizations, and nonprofits to collect campaign contributions. It provides candidates with a secure, mobile-friendly donation page that integrates with their campaign finance reporting. ActBlue makes it easy for supporters to give in seconds and allows campaigns to track donor history, set up recurring contributions, and run fundraising thermometers for specific goals.
ActionID
An ActionID is the account you’ll need to create in order to access the softwares created by NGP and the Voter Activation Network (VAN), including NGP 8, VoteBuilder, Open Virtual Phone Bank (OpenVPB) and the MiniVAN app.
Activist Code
Activist codes are used to identify someone’s affiliations, activities, or interests, such as union members, campaign volunteers, party officials, or signers of a specific petition. An Activist Code is essentially a “yes” to a question.
Analytics
Analytics are analyzed data used to track performance of online performance and make decisions about what is and isn’t working for your campaign.
Attempt
An attempt is any time you knock on a door or call a phone number in an effort to reach a voter, whether or not anybody answers.
B
Backwards Mapping
Backwards mapping is a project management strategy that begins by using the final date of an important event to work backward and create time-bound goals and a plan of action.
Ballot Access
Any program a campaign may execute (collecting signatures, for example) or any requirement it must reach (filling out a form, paying a fee, or raising a certain amount of money) to be placed on the ballot.
Ballot Chase Phase
The ballot chase phase is the phase of a campaign’s vote-by-mail program where the campaign follows up with supporters who requested an Absentee Ballot to ensure that they know how to vote with their Absentee Ballot and submit it as quickly as possible.
Ballot Drop Off
Ballot Drop Off is a voting phenomenon that occurs when voters do not cast votes in smaller or less prominent races in a cycle. Most often these are down-ballot races. For example, going to the polls to cast a vote for governor but declining to vote for a city council representative is an instance of ballot drop off.
Base/Party Voter
A Democratic base voter is someone whose values align with the Democratic Party and therefore they are likely to always support the Democratic candidate for any elected office
Blue District
A blue district is a geographic area — such as a city, county, legislative district, or congressional district — that reliably votes for Democratic candidates. Blue districts typically have a large concentration of registered Democrats and a history of electing Democrats at the local, state, and federal levels. Campaigns in blue districts often focus less on persuasion and more on base mobilization and voter turnout to run up margins and support down-ballot candidates.
Boosting
Boosting is the process of promoting a popular Facebook post, turning it into a type of digital advertisement that is designed to reach a larger audience.
Branched Script
A branched script is a voter contact script, usually used during canvassing, that guides volunteers through a list of different follow-up questions specifically based on a voter’s response(s).
Bullet Voting
Bullet voting is when a voter chooses fewer candidates than they are allowed to vote for, usually casting a vote only for their preferred candidate(s) and leaving the remaining choices blank.
For example, if voters can elect three county commissioners, a voter might vote for only one candidate instead of three. That's bullet voting.
C
Call Book
A call book is a binder full of call sheets that lives in the call room. Usually placed in an order of prioritization you want the candidate to call on a given day.
Call Sheet
A call sheet is a fundraising document that compiles key information about each potential donor a candidate will contact during call time. A strong call sheet typically includes the donor's name, phone number, giving history, employer, connection to the candidate, suggested ask amount, and any personal notes to help the candidate build rapport quickly. Call sheets help candidates make the most of every conversation and take advantage of every opportunity.
Call Time
Call time is the dedicated, uninterrupted block of time a candidate spends making fundraising calls to potential donors. It is one of the most important and time-intensive activities for any candidate, particularly in the early stages of a campaign when building a donor base is critical. Effective call time is structured, consistent, and tracked. Most campaigns schedule call time daily and use a call sheet to keep the candidate on task and prepared for each conversation.
Call to Action
A call to action is content (e.g., words, images, and videos) that asks voters and/or volunteers to take a particular action to help achieve the campaign’s goals.
Campaign Committee
The campaign committee is the official entity for your campaign, the name on your checks, and often the disclaimer that is placed on campaign materials.
Campaign Plan
A campaign plan is a living document that details how a campaign allocates its limited time, money, and people to win between now and Election Day. It includes specific instructions for fundraising, communications, field, digital, GOTV, and operations.
Campaign Finance Law
Refers to Title 13 of the Election Law Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland and Title 33, subtitle 13, of the Code of Maryland Regulations.
Campaign Finance Report
A report submitted under oath, subject to the penalties of perjury, accounting of contributions received, transfers, expenditures made, outstanding obligations, and loans, by a political committee as required under § 13-304 of the Election Law Article.
Candidate Voice
Candidate voice is the specific way a candidate speaks that makes them sound identifiably like themselves.
Canned Response Bank
A canned response bank is a pre-populated collection of texts and responses provided to a volunteer conducting peer-to-peer (P2P) texting for a campaign.
Canvassing
Canvassing is talking to people at their homes by going from door to door, which is the most effective way for you or your volunteer to convince voters to cast their votes for you.
Caucus
A closed meeting of members of a political party where individuals determine nominees for elected offices.
Central Committee
The official governing body of a political party at the local level (usually county or city, such as Baltimore City). It serves as the Party's organizational backbone between elections, helping recruit candidates, support campaigns, raise funds, build volunteer networks, and represent the party in the community. The committee's responsibilities often include:
Filling certain vacancies in elected offices
Recruiting and supporting candidates for local and (sometimes) state and/or federal office.
Coordinating voter registration, canvassing, and get-out-the-vote efforts.
Raising funds and managing local party operations.
Serving as the official voice of the party organization within the county.
Challenger
A challenger is a candidate for office running against the incumbent elected official in either a primary or general election.
Collateral
Collateral is tangible materials your campaign produces to hand out or advertise (e.g., fans, yard signs, pamphlets).
COMAR
Maryland Code of Regulations
Communications Plan
The communications plan is the part of the campaign plan that details a campaign’s overall message and how the campaign will amplify that message to communities.
Constituency
The constituency is the group of people represented politically by an officeholder. For example, the constituency of a governor would be people residing in the state they govern.
Constituency Group
A constituency group is a collection of people with shared interests and political priorities. This term is often used to refer to groups that share a common identity or experience, instead of geography or district. For example, a constituency group may be organized around a specific racial/ethic group, age group, or around social affiliations (e.g., Labor unions, religious communities).
Contact
A contact is any time you have a conversation with a voter on your list.
Contact Rate
The contact rate is the percentage of attempts that result in a contact.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of subscribers who open an email, click the link, and complete the action the email asked.
Coordinated GOTV
A coordinated Get out the Vote (GOTV) is a GOTV-phase program where all campaigns in your area feed most of their resources and volunteers into one program during GOTV. Ideally, this would be established a month in advance, and all candidates would be brought in.
Core Message
A core message is a few sentences that clearly explain who the candidate is, why they’re running, and their promise to voters.
Credibility
Credibility is the extent to which voters consider your candidate to be trustworthy, reliable, and believable. In other words, if your candidate is elected, would they be effective in office and follow through on their campaign promises?
Crisis Response
A crisis response is a strategic response that reacts to an event or situation that could have a significant negative impact on a campaign’s goals.
Cross-Tab
A polling analysis table that breaks survey results into demographic or geographic subgroups.
Cycle
The period that begins on the January 1 that follows a Gubernatorial election, and continues until the December 31st that is four years later.
D
Daisy-Chain
Daisy-chaining is the process of building new campaign messages off of past interactions. For example, after a supporter has donated, your campaign would continue acknowledging and building off that interaction in future emails to that supporter.
Database
A database is an organized collection of structured information, or data, typically stored electronically in a computer system.
Digital
Digital refers to the full range of online tools, platforms, and strategies a campaign uses to communicate with voters, mobilize supporters, and raise money on the internet. This includes social media (Facebook, Instagram, X/Twitter, TikTok), email and SMS (texting) programs, digital advertising, the campaign website, and online fundraising platforms like ActBlue.
Digital Advertising
Digital advertising is the paid use of online platforms to appeal to voters for campaign support.
Donor Tier
Donor tiers are monetary categories into which a campaign sorts its donors. For example, your campaign’s highest donor tier may indicate supporters with a giving capacity of over $1,500, while the second tier indicates a giving capacity of $1,000-$1,499.
Door Knocking
Door knocking, also called canvassing, is the practice of volunteers or campaign staff going directly to voters' homes to have face-to-face conversations about the campaign. It is one of the most effective voter contact methods because in-person conversations are more persuasive than phone calls or mailers. Canvassers typically follow a walk list of targeted voters and record their responses in a voter database like VoteBuilder or Mini VAN. Door knocking is a cornerstone of any serious field program, especially in the final weeks before Election Day.
Drop Date
A drop date is a date when a vendor/printer will deliver political mailers to USPS, typically at a Sectional Center Facility (USPS bulk mail processing department). Voters usually receive mailers in three to five days.
E
Earned Media
Earned media is publicity in the media that your campaign doesn’t pay for or control.
Education and Application Phase
The education and application phase is the phase of a campaign’s vote-by-mail program where the campaign educates voters on how to request an Absentee Ballot and explains the Absentee Ballot’s importance to the campaign.
EIN Number
An EIN number is a Federal Tax ID Number all organizations or campaign committees must have; it is similar to a social security number for an individual.
Email Acquisition
Email acquisition is the process of gathering potential supporters’ emails for a campaign email list. This can be done either in person or online.
Email Series
An email series is a string of emails designed to deepen engagement with supporters by asking them to take increasingly important actions, usually donations of their money or time. Each email builds upon the previous email in the series.
Escalation
Escalation is the act of increasing a volunteer’s level of responsibility (i.e. moving them up the Ladder of Engagement). An example is when a volunteer goes from attending a canvass event to hosting their own.
Escalation One-on-One
An escalation one-on-one is an authentic conversation connecting two people about values and goals, with the goal of asking a volunteer to take on a specific leadership role.
F
Facebook Algorithm
The Facebook algorithm is the formula that determines what your followers see in their Facebook news feeds.
Federal Election Commission (FEC)
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in federal elections.
Field
Field is the component of a campaign that involves talking to voters one-on-one to identify supporters, persuade undecided voters, and get voters to the polls on Election Day.
Field Plan
The field plan is the part of the campaign plan that details which voters a campaign needs to win and how the campaign will connect with them directly.
Finance Committee
A finance committee is a group of strong supporters who raise money on your campaign’s behalf, on a volunteer basis.
Flake Rate
The flake rate is the projected rate that a campaign estimates volunteers will not show up for scheduled shifts, even with proper confirmation and follow-up.
Framing
Framing is the practice of organizing and restructuring a message to emphasize specific parts without altering its fundamental components.
Fundraising Events
Fundraising events gather people at a specific time and place, which tends to motivate donors to give. Events tend to be effective, but you must balance the cost and time of events against how much you will raise. As a rule of thumb, an event should not cost more than 10% of its proceeds.
Fundraising Mail
Fundraising mail is fundraising solicitations sent directly to a prospective donor via the mail.
Fundraising Plan
The fundraising plan is the part of the campaign plan that outlines the fundraising goals, strategies, and tactics to raise the money needed by Election Day.
G
Geographic Targeting
Geographic targeting is the process of identifying the most effective and highest value precincts for voter persuasion and mobilization.
Get Out The Vote (GOTV)
Get Out the Vote (GOTV) is a campaign phase of intense and increased voter contact that happens just before election day; its goal is turning out all identified and predicted supporters to vote for a candidate.
GOTV Dry Run
GOTV dry runs are sets of practice rounds that a campaign will use to test its strategy, staffing plan, and reporting structure ahead of election day. Typically, GOTV dry runs occur over the two weekends leading up to an election so that the GOTV plan can be fully implemented in the four days immediately preceding election day.
GOTV Hard Ask for Volunteers
A GOTV hard ask for volunteers is an ask that uses the same framework as a traditional hard ask, but with increased urgency and a bigger ask (multiple shifts/days). Make multiple asks. Keep asking until you get a yes. Don’t stop at a yes. Ask for everything you need. Get a hard commitment for a specific thing.
GOTV Plan
The GOTV plan is the part of the campaign plan that outlines your Get out the Vote phase, which is the final phase focusing on mobilizing Democrats and identified supporters to vote.
GOTV Universe
A GOTV universe is the group of people you are trying to get to vote for you to exceed your vote goal. Ideally, these are your base voters and persuadable voters you have identified as your supporters.
Grassroots Organizing
Grassroots organizing is the process of building political power from the ground up by engaging, recruiting, and mobilizing everyday community members, rather than relying primarily on top-down institutional support. Grassroots campaigns prioritize volunteer recruitment, neighbor-to-neighbor outreach, and community events to grow their base. Strong grassroots organizing generates authentic local support, creates a volunteer-powered field program, and signals to donors and the press that a campaign has real momentum.
H
Hard Ask
A hard ask is a direct, specific, and time-bound request for a commitment from a volunteer or donor. Unlike a soft ask, which invites someone to consider getting involved, a hard ask closes the conversation with a clear action: "Will you donate $100 today?" or "Can you commit to volunteering every Saturday through Election Day?" Hard asks are essential to both fundraising and volunteer recruitment because they drive real commitments rather than vague interest.
High-Frequency Voter
A high-frequency voter is an individual who consistently votes. Campaigns will define this term differently, but as a rule of thumb: this someone who has voted in all the general elections in the past 4 years.
High-Traffic Canvassing
High-traffic canvassing is a voter contact tactic in which campaign volunteers/organizers approach people at a large event or street corner to ask them to complete an action for the campaign.
House Party
House parties are intimate gatherings hosted in supporters’ homes used to solicit an action from supporters.
I
Identified Supporter
Identified supporters are eligible voters who the campaign has identified as supporting your campaign. These are individual people (e.g., Sally Jenkins at 123 Main St.), not groups of people (e.g., Sierra Club members).
Incumbent
The incumbent is the person who is currently holding office.
Independent Expenditure
A gift, transfer, disbursement, or promise of money or a thing of value by a person expressly advocating the success or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or ballot issue if the gift, transfer, disbursement, or promise of money or a thing of value is not made in coordination, cooperation, consultation, understanding, agreement, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, a campaign finance entity of a candidate, an agent of a candidate, or a ballot issue committee.
Individual Email Ask
An individual email ask is a one-off email containing a hard ask for support, like a donation or a volunteer shift.
Information Embargo
An information embargo is a request or requirement that the information in question will not be published until a specific time or date.
Informational Interview
An informational interview is a structured conversation or meeting set up by a person who wants to learn more about a career field, specific job, or specific organization.
Introductory One-on-One
An introductory one-on-one is an authentic conversation connecting two people about values and goals, with the goal of introducing potential volunteers to a campaign or organization.
J
Joint Fundraising Committee
A fundraising entity that raises money for multiple candidates/committees.
Jumbo Mailer
An oversized direct-mail piece used in voter outreach.
K
Keyword
A keyword, specifically in the context of texting for campaigns, is a unique term comprised of letters and/or numbers that people can use to opt into a mass texting program. For example, this may look like “Text OBAMA to 54321.”
Kitchen Cabinet
A kitchen cabinet is a trusted group of advisors that helps guide the campaign strategy and/or support you, typically made up of close family, trusted friends, and people whose opinions you highly value.
L
Ladder of Engagement
The Ladder of Engagement is a framework designed to deepen engagement by asking potential supporters to take increasingly important actions for the campaign, leading to an ultimate goal.
Likely Supporter
Likely supporters are people who would probably vote for you if they go out to vote.
Literature
Literature broadly consists of pamphlets, postcards, and one-pagers that campaigns use to introduce you and your positions, persuade voters to support you, and/or encourage people to vote. Literature is often referred to as “lit.”
Low-Frequency Voter
A low-frequency voter is an individual who votes less consistently. Campaigns will define this term differently, but as a rule of thumb: this is someone who has missed an election or two over the past four years.
Low-Salience Election
A low-salience election is an election without a considerable amount of press or widespread community attention. In these races, voters often lack key information about the election, candidates’ policy positions, and voting methods.
M
Main GOTV Universe
A main GOTV universe is the individuals who said they would vote for you during the persuasion phase of the campaign and high-frequency Democratic voters who always vote and always vote Democrat.
Maintenance One-on-One
A maintenance one-on-one is an authentic conversation connecting two people about values and goals, with the goal of connecting with and supporting current volunteers.
Mass Texting
Mass texting (sometimes called blast or broadcast texting) is sending texts to an entire list at once. Similar to email, people must opt in to receive campaign texts. Texts will come from a five- or six-digit phone number known as a short code.
Matching Funds
Matching funds are contributions to a campaign that are doubled or further multiplied by a third-party donor, organization, or public financing program that agrees to match every dollar raised up to a specified limit. Matching fund programs are a powerful fundraising tool because they incentivize donors to give by increasing the impact of their contribution. Some local and state public financing programs, like New York City's small-dollar matching program, match grassroots donations at ratios as high as 8:1 to amplify small-dollar giving.
Max Out
Maxing out is when a donor gives the maximum contribution limit that campaign finance laws allow for your race.
MD CRIS
Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System
Member Goal
A member goal is a goal for the number of people actively participating in your group or organization.
Message
Your message is the takeaway you want your audience to remember. Messages can have many functions: they can inspire action, increase awareness of your positions, mobilize volunteers, and more.
Messaging
Messaging refers to the strategies and tactics your campaign uses to deliver its message.
Metrics
Metrics are measurements (doors knocked, money raised, posts liked) that help you understand your progress toward a specific goal.
Microtargeting
Microtargeting is the process of using demographic and consumer information to identify persuadable voters.
Midterm Elections
Midterm elections are federal elections held in the middle of a presidential term, specifically two years after a presidential election, in which all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and approximately one-third of U.S. Senate seats are on the ballot. State and local races are also often on the midterm ballot. Midterms historically see lower voter turnout than presidential elections, which makes strong field programs and get out the vote (GOTV) efforts especially critical for Democratic campaigns.
Midterm elections in Maryland align with the Gubernatorial election (2022, 2026, etc.).
MiniVAN
MiniVAN is a mobile canvassing app built by NGP VAN that allows campaign volunteers and field staff to access their walk list directly on a smartphone or tablet. Rather than carrying printed lists, canvassers use MiniVAN to navigate to doors, record voter responses in real time, and sync data back to VoteBuilder automatically. MiniVAN streamlines field operations, reduces data entry errors, and gives campaign managers up-to-date visibility into canvassing progress throughout the day.
N
NGP VAN
NGP VAN is the technology company that provides the voter database and campaign management software used by Democratic campaigns and progressive organizations across the country. Its two main platforms, NGP for fundraising and compliance, and VAN (Voter Activation Network) for field organizing, are the industry-standard tools for managing donors, tracking voter contacts, and coordinating volunteers. Most Democratic campaigns at the state and federal levels use NGP VAN tools, including VoteBuilder and MiniVAN.
Non-Partisan Election
A non-partisan election is an election in which your partisan affiliation doesn’t appear on the ballot.
O
Off the Record
Talking to a reporter off the record is providing a reporter with a tip or lead they can follow with the understanding you will not be named as a source on the story.
Off-Year
An off-year is a year in which there is not a presidential election (e.g., 2018, 2022, etc.).
On Background
Talking with a reporter on background is providing context and details to help the reporter write a better-informed story or help frame the story. The source will probably be attributed to an anonymous source or “someone close to the campaign.”
On the Record
Talking with a reporter on the record is talking to them with the understanding that they can use all the information you share and quote you by name. This is the default for conversations with reporters — assume your conversations are on the record.
On-Year
An on-year is a year in which there is a presidential election (e.g. 2020, 2024, etc.).
One-on-One
A one-on-one is an organizing tool that connects two people through an authentic conversation about values and goals. There are three basic types: introductory, escalation, and maintenance.
Open Seat
An open seat is a political office that is up for election where the incumbent is not running for reelection.
Operations Plan
The operations plan is the part of the campaign plan that details the organizational structure, policies, and procedures to ensure legal compliance and the presence of human resources.
Organic Digital Media
Organic digital media is content shared on a digital platform that does not require paying to post. For example, this includes all social media posts that are drafted and posted directly by members of the campaign.
Organizer Math
Organizer math is the mathematical process of using identifiable goals and metrics (e.g., vote goal) in order to make future projections about a field or organizing program.
P
Paid Media
Paid media is advertisements that cost the campaign money (e.g., TV ads, radio ads, digital ads).
Party Convention
A party convention is a very uncommon method of determining the Democratic nominee that appears on the general election ballot. A party convention is an alternative to more traditional nomination processes, like primary elections and caucuses.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Texting
Peer-to-peer (P2P) texts are texts sent to one individual at a time by a campaign volunteer or staff member pressing a button. These texts can be sent to any person without them opting in to a list. Texts will come from a ten-digit phone number known as a long code.
Persuadable Voters
Voters that tend not to be hardline Republicans and can be persuaded to vote for a Democrat or progressive candidate in a specific election.
Persuasion ID Goal
The persuasion ID goal is the number of targeted voters you ideally would like to identify as your supporters. This number is equal to your Vote Deficit.
Persuasion Phase
The persuasion phase is the stage of your field program that focuses on convincing voters that you are the best and they should vote for you.
Persuasion Target
A persuasion target is a single person within your persuasion universe that your campaign is targeting to have a conversation with them about why they should support you.
Persuasion Universe
A persuasion universe is a list of voters your campaign has identified could be convinced to vote for your candidate in a specific election.
Phone Banking
Phone banking is an organized campaign activity in which volunteers make calls to a targeted list of voters to have scripted conversations about the candidate, mobilize supporters, identify persuadable voters, or recruit volunteers. Phone banking is typically coordinated through the campaign's voter database and can be done virtually, making it one of the most scalable voter contact methods. It is especially useful for reaching voters in rural areas or during periods when door knocking is difficult.
Pivoting
Pivoting is when you take a question on one subject and answer that question with a focus on a different subject.
Pledge
A pledge is a donor’s commitment to donate to a campaign, but it is not an actual donation. For example, a donor may pledge to give a $50 check at the end of the month, but it is not a contribution until the check is collected by your campaign.
Pledge Chase
A pledge chase is following up with folks who are considering a donation or have made a commitment to donate, but haven’t yet made their contribution.
Pledges Binder
A pledges binder is a binder that contains call sheets of people who have made a pledge.
Political Action Committees (PACs)
Political action committees (PACs) are organizations that combine money from many contributors to support candidates directly, and most endorse the candidate they fund, lending credibility and viability to those campaigns.
Precinct
A precinct is the smallest geographical unit in terms of election administration, with each precinct usually having a polling place. Any given county can be broken down into potentially hundreds of precincts. Local organizing infrastructure is generally built at the precinct-level, each with a precinct captain.
Precinct Captain/Committee Person
A precinct captain or committee person is a person who plays a critical role in voter turnout by getting out the vote for base Democratic voters in their precinct. The precinct committee person has built relationships with their precinct’s Democratic voters throughout the year.
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a prejudgment based on a preconceived notion or stereotype. This judgment can be conscious or unconscious.
Primary Election
A primary election is an election between candidates of the same political party that determines who will receive the party’s nomination for a particular elected office.
Progress to Goal (PTG)
Progress to Goal is a metric campaigns use to determine what percentage of a desired outcome has been reached. For example, if a campaign sets a goal of 5000 doors knocked, they will be at 80% Progress to Goal once they knock 4000 doors.
Prospecting
Prospecting is soliciting donations from people who have not previously donated to your campaign.
Purple District
A purple district is a competitive geographic area where neither party has a strong structural advantage, and elections are frequently decided by a small margin. Purple districts are the most contested battlegrounds in any election cycle, and campaigns in these areas must invest heavily in both voter persuasion and base turnout because every vote matters. Winning purple districts often requires a robust field program, disciplined messaging, and strong fundraising.
Q
Quarter
A quarter is the time period for which a campaign is reporting fundraising totals. This may be a quarter of the year (e.g., January through March) or another time period, as defined and required by the campaign finance authority (e.g., January through April or 45 days).
R
Rapid Response
A rapid response is a strategic response that reacts to an event or situation that has the potential to have substantial effects on the campaign.
Red District
A red district is either held or previously held by a Republican or located in an area historically favorable to Republican candidates.
Refcode
A refcode is a reference code, a URL parameter that you can add to contribution form links to collect useful data about where your donations are coming from.
Registration Advantage
A registration advantage is the number of additional registered voters that one party has compared to another. For example, if there are 250,000 registered Democrats in Wayne County, and only 200,000 registered Republicans, Democrats hold a registration advantage of 50,000 voters.
Relational Organizing
Relational organizing is a field strategy that mobilizes supporters to reach out to people they already know — friends, family, neighbors, and coworkers — rather than contacting strangers. Because people are more likely to engage with someone they trust, relational organizing produces higher-quality conversations and stronger voter commitments than traditional cold outreach. Campaigns using relational organizing often leverage tools like the MiniVAN app to help volunteers identify and track their personal contacts in the voter file.
Resoliciting
Resoliciting is soliciting donations from people who have already made a contribution to your campaign.
Retweet and Share
Retweeting or sharing is reposting or forwarding messages and posts on social media accounts; Twitter and Facebook, respectively.
Rolodexing
Rolodexing is the process of building a campaign's initial donor list by systematically mining a candidate's personal network. It includes going through phone contacts, email history, LinkedIn connections, alumni networks, and professional associations to identify potential donors. The goal is to compile a comprehensive list of everyone the candidate knows, remove duplicates, research giving capacity, and assign suggested ask amounts. Rolodexing is typically one of the first fundraising tasks a new campaign undertakes.
S
Script
A script is the language that a campaign provides for its volunteers to use when speaking to voters. Scripts ensure the volunteer stays on message and delivers the most important information needed for an effective conversation.
Segmentation
Segmentation is the separation of email subscribers into smaller segments based on set criteria like geographic location, past contributions, and much more.
Sender Reputation
Social power is access to resources that promote a stable, healthy, and happy lifestyle. On a basic level, this includes food, shelter, safety, and education. Resources can also include beneficial policies, positive media depiction, and social acceptance as normal. Groups with social power are able to influence culture and stereotypes that enhance or inhibit policy around marginalized groups.
Social Stratification
Social stratification is the process by which societies organize people into hierarchical groups based on characteristics like race, economic class, education level, and gender.
Stakeholder
A stakeholder is a person or entity who has an interest or concern regarding a particular issue.
Statement of Organization
The document signed by the responsible officers and, if applicable, the authorizing candidate establishing a political committee with the State Board of Elections.
Statewide Coordinated Campaign
Statewide coordinated campaigns are campaigns that usually involve working with candidates to get out the vote from people who support the candidates, which can include voters they worked to persuade.
Stereotype
A stereotype is a belief about a group of people that is encouraged by our social and institutional surroundings. These assumptions can be either negative or positive and can typically be debunked through exposure and internalization.
Story of Now
A Story of Now is a component of your Story of Self that creates urgency about an issue or campaign and calls voters to action.
Story of Self
A Story of Self is a personal story that clearly explains your values and why you are taking action.
Story of Us
A Story of Us is a component of your Story of Self that highlights shared values, goals, and struggles within a specific community.
Storybank
A storybank is a repository of stories from the candidate and voters on specific issues important to your campaign.
Stump Speech
A stump speech is your standard speech, delivered day after day during a typical political campaign.
Surrogate
A surrogate is an influential public figure who campaigns for the candidate on their behalf.
T
Tagging
Tagging is adding specific people, accounts, or terms to a post using the @ or # symbols to connect them to a specific community (e.g., #Traindems, @traindemocrats).
Tailoring
Tailoring is the process by which messages are made relatable to a specific audience.
Talking Points
Talking points are clear phrases that outline your candidate’s policies or ideas and help keep your candidate on message.
Targeting
Targeting is the strategic process of prioritizing specific voters (based on characteristics, past voting behavior, geographic location, etc.) for direct contact from a campaign or organization.
Text/SMS
Text and SMS are text messages sent to a phone. These terms are used interchangeably across campaigns and mean the same thing.
Treasurer
A treasurer is a person that is legally and financially responsible for the campaign.
Turf
A turf is a small geographic area sized to be canvassed by one or two individuals.
Turnout
Turnout is the percentage of registered voters who cast a ballot in a given election.
U
Undervote
An undervote occurs when a voter casts fewer than the maximum number of votes allowed on a ballot. For example, a person chooses to vote for only three candidates when there are four available seats up for election.
Union Bug
A union bug is a label that a union printer adds to the printed materials it produces.
Unions
A union is an organization of workers who come together to achieve collective goals. Union members negotiate with their employers for fair wages, good benefits, secure retirements, and much more.
V
Validator
A validator is someone who can lend credibility to your campaign (e.g., a community leader or elected official).
Values-based conversation
A values-based conversation is a conversation between people connecting their values to a particular issue or candidate with an invitation for involvement at the end.
Viability
Viability is the belief, by a person or organization, that a candidate will win an election or be successful in their election position.
Volunteer Coordinator
The volunteer coordinator is the person on the campaign in charge of recruiting, scheduling, training, and managing your volunteer pool. They also find the right job for everyone who wants to help.
Vote Deficit
The vote deficit is the difference between your vote goal and the number of high-frequency base voters (i.e., those voters whose support you can count on without persuading them) in your district.
Vote Goal
The vote goal is the number of votes your campaign aims to receive on Election Day. You will base strategic decisions throughout your campaign on this number. The NDTC rule of thumb for a two-person race is that your vote goal should be about 52-55% of projected turnout.
Vote History
A vote history is the list of previous elections in which the voter casts a ballot, and sometimes the method by which they did so.
Vote Share
A vote share is the number of votes a candidate receives in an election proportional to their opponent.
Vote Tripling
Vote tripling is a relational mobilization tactic to increase voter turnout by asking a voter to commit to talking to three friends about voting.
Vote-by-Mail Program
A vote-by-mail program is a specific program in your GOTV plan that outlines how to encourage your voters to vote by mail. This will include a specific budget, voter contact plan, and universe.
VoteBuilder
VoteBuilder is the voter database platform built by NGP VAN and used exclusively by Democratic campaigns and state parties. It gives campaigns access to the statewide voter file, including registered voter information, voting history, and past contact notes, and allows staff to build targeted call and walk lists, track volunteer activity, and record the results of every voter contact. VoteBuilder is the central hub of any serious Democratic field program and integrates directly with the MiniVAN mobile canvassing app.
VoteBuilder Committee
A VoteBuilder committee is the VoteBuilder account that holds all of your campaign’s or organization’s specific data — it belongs solely to your campaign or organization.
Voter File
A voter file is a comprehensive, enhanced database of the people who are registered to vote in a given district. May include phone number, gender, date, party affiliation, vote history, and more.
Voter Score
A voter score is a numerical indication of how likely a voter is to support a Democratic candidate or turn out to vote in any given year, with a score of 1 being the least likely and 100 being the most likely.
Voter Universe
A voter universe is a list or database with specific individuals a campaign or organization strategically chooses to target for direct contact.
Voting Plan
A Voting Plan is a GOTV messaging tactic that is shown to increase the likelihood that a voter makes it to the polls by encouraging them to make a plan identifying who, when, where, and how they plan to vote.
W
Walk List
A walk list is a targeted list of voter addresses generated from the campaign's voter database (typically VoteBuilder) that guides canvassers door-to-door during a canvassing shift. Walk lists are customized based on the campaign's targeting strategy and include only the voters the campaign wants to contact, such as low-propensity Democrats in a specific precinct. Modern walk lists are accessed through the MiniVAN app and allow canvassers to record voter responses in real time.
Walkability
Walkability is how easy and safe an area is to canvass; often measured by the prevalence of sidewalks, amount of vehicle traffic, and distances between homes.
Weekend of Action (WoA)
Weekends of Action (WoAs) are a tactic used by campaigns to simulate urgency and increase volunteer capacity. By designating one weekend as a special opportunity for volunteers to engage with the campaign, campaigns can grow, recruit more volunteers, and boost their voter contact.
Why
Your “why” is the main reason you were motivated to run for office and/or get involved with a particular candidate or issue.
Win Number
The win number is the number of votes your campaign estimates that it needs on Election Day to win. In a two-person race, this is 50% of projected turnout + 1 vote.
Write-in Candidate
An individual whose name will not appear on the ballot but who files a certificate of candidacy
Y
Yard Sign
One of the most recognizable campaign tools; used to build name recognition and demonstrate visible support. Famously, don’t win elections!
Yield Rate
The percentage of contacts (calls, doors, texts, emails) that produce a desired outcome, such as a volunteer sign-up or voter commitment.
Young Democrats
Registered Democrats between the ages of 18 and 35.
Youth Advisory Council
A group of younger supporters who help shape outreach and messaging strategies. Can be a powerful tool for campaigns!
Youth Vote
Voters typically aged 18 - 29, often a key voting demographic target.
Z
Zero-Based Budgeting
Building a campaign budget from scratch based on actual needs rather than prior spending patterns
Zip Code Targeting
Using ZIP code-level demographic or voter data to refine outreach efforts.
Zone Canvassing
Dividing a district into geographic zones or turfs for field operations and volunteer assignments.
Zone Targeting
Focusing campaign resources on specific geographic areas with high concentrations of persuadable or turnout voters.