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Things that Can Wait Until You Start Managing Volunteers or Contact Data
Introduction
For a runoff transition guide, click here.
When you first log in to a newly created PDI account, you will immediately be able to do some basic tasks, such as looking up voters, creating universes, and running basic count reports. In order to run output files or perform data entry, you will need to do some account data configuration and setup. This section will identify key configuration steps that need to be done immediately, and other steps that can wait until you begin working in specific program modules.
Things to Do Immediately
- Review and Edit Candidate / Issue Support Settings – Setting up the Candidate or Issue assignments allows organizations to collect and track response code IDs for more than one candidate or issue. If your campaign is only working on behalf of one candidate, you can simply catalog the name of the candidate or issue once and be done with this part of the program. Every account has a default candidate or issue that is automatically configured for the user interface without having to make a selection.
- Set Up ID Flag Options – The ID Flags are standardized codes representing the actual responses to questions asked while contacting voters. This includes not only IDs for support or opposition, but also flags for other campaign-associated data such as Gated/Inaccessible homes, Lawn Sign Requests, Volunteer Interest, or Donor Interest. The program has many ID Flags preloaded to make this setup process very easy.
- Set Up Acquisition Types – The Acquisition Type records how your ID Flag information was acquired. Having the source helps campaigns evaluate outreach methods and provide greater analytics of campaign efforts. Examples of source types include “Paid Canvass”, “Volunteer Canvass”, "Paid Phone Bank”, “Volunteer Phone Bank”, or “Import.” You can also map these codes to parts of the program that typically record data from a single source. For example, data processed from the Online Phone Bank can be mapped to automatically record an “Online Phone Bank” Acquisition Type. This can also be done for Mobile Canvassing and imported data. The program has many Acquisition Types preloaded and mapped, but you are also able to add any custom Acquisition Types you may need.
- Set Up Survey Questions – Survey Questions associate questions asked with standardized answer options. To record unsuccessful attempts to contact a voter or contact, a non-contact question can be created with response code options such as Not Home, Moved, and Left Message.
- Set Up Surveys – A survey combines survey questions and a script for communicating with voters or contacts. This script can be used for field canvassing and phone banking to record responses. Separating the Non-Contact survey question from a survey allows a campaign to use the same survey for both walking and phoning by using a different set of Non-Contact code options for field canvassing and phone canvassing.
- Set Up Permission Profiles – Permission Profiles grant or restrict user access to controls, functions, or modules within PDI. The purpose of this process is to assign a specific level of program access to people using your account that reflects the work they actually perform. The program will provide preconfigured profiles for typical campaigns, but you can also create new profiles that meet your campaign’s needs.
- Set Up Additional User Accounts – Once you have reviewed and created the necessary permission profiles, you can start creating user accounts for each individual who will need unsupervised access to your campaign account. There is no limit to the number of user accounts a campaign can have. User accounts are NOT needed for accessing online phone banks and mobile device accounts.
- Set Up File Pickup Locations – All data generated from PDI is sent to a password-protected File Pickup page where it can then be downloaded by an authorized user. PDI allows campaigns to create multiple File Pickup pages, and one default pickup page is required to Export Flag Data. The File Pickup pages enhance the program’s security and control of output data, as well as providing an organizational structure for distributing lists and files.
- Set up Saved Universe Categories – This setting is optional but can be very useful in organizing your Saved Universes. Once your campaign starts rolling, you will find that your account has a large number of Saved Universes. A little consideration of how you want to organize them early in the campaign will go a long way in making your account high-functioning.
Things that Can Wait Until You Start Managing Volunteers or People Data
- Set Up Contact Data Sources – Contact Data Sources allow you to add a standardized label or category to information inserted into the contact database. You can add various labels to the contact Data Source catalog that will be used when importing one or more records. The PDI system uses the Data Source values in querying groups of contacts and filtering user account permissions.
- Set Up Event Calendars – Event Calendars allow you to categorize events and display them separately. You can create new calendars for each major type of event, department, or even PDI sub-accounts.
- Set Up Events – Events are used in the PDI to track attendance at campaign activities. An event can be anything where one or more people attend an activity related to your campaign. This can be anything from a fundraiser, town hall meeting, meet and greet, or just normal daily campaign operations. The process for getting people to do something or show up at a specific place at a specific time starts with creating an event.
- Set Up Event Locations – PDI’s Event Management module keeps track of the locations where events are held. These locations can be created in advance or created on the fly when making an event.
- Set Up Shifts – Shifts are campaign activities where volunteers fulfill a certain activity for a certain amount of time. Shifts play an important role in tracking volunteer Field Canvassing and Phone Canvassing work. This work is recorded within the Volunteer Management page.
- Set Up Shift Activities – Shift Activities denote the type of work done in a shift within PDI’s Volunteer Management, Door-to-Door Canvassing, or Phone Canvassing pages.
- Set Up Skills – You can use PDI to keep track of volunteers' skillsets. Knowing which volunteers have specific skills allow you to recruit and utilize your volunteers more effectively.
- Set Up Work Types – Preferred Work Types can be recorded within a contact’s, volunteer’s, member’s and/or donor’s record within PDI. This allows a campaign or organization to identify the type of work an individual would like to do and reach out to them based on that preference.
- Set Up Volunteer Organizers – PDI allows for tracking an individual contact’s Volunteer Organizer.
- Set Up Volunteer Organizations – Some campaigns receive volunteer work contributions from individuals associated with a friendly external organization. In these collaborative efforts, PDI allows volunteers to apply their work actions to their specific organization. Campaigns can then track the number of calls made and IDs acquired by volunteers working on behalf of a specific organization.
- Set Up Volunteer Levels – PDI allows Account Administrators to create and track various levels of volunteering on contact records. Most frequently used volunteer levels include: New Volunteer, Occasional Volunteer, Super Volunteer.
- Set Up Volunteer Coordinators – PDI allows you to create a management hierarchy for volunteer work. Individual volunteers can be assigned to Volunteer Coordinators. Work projects can then be assigned and tracked by individual volunteer and coordinator. Each volunteer can be assigned to only one coordinator.
- Set Up Volunteer Teams – Volunteer Teams group together contacts for use in volunteer activities such as field or phone canvassing. Individual volunteers can be a member of more than one volunteer team.