Pulling a list from VAN

To import a ThruText or ThruTalk list of contacts from VAN, you can pull that data from your VAN committee. This article explains how to "pull" a VAN contact list into your GetThru account from the External Contact List page.

NOTE - For ThruText, there is also the option of importing a list of contacts from VAN by "pushing" the list using the SMS button; however, for ThruTalk, you will need to use the pulling method.

If you haven't set up your VAN integration yet, click here to learn how to get set up.

Importing your list

Navigate to the "External Contact Lists" menu in the Groups drop-down of your left panel. Click "New External Contact List" and select either ThruTalk or ThruText from the drop-down options to locate your lists from each side:

Next, select either Voter File or Campaign Saved Lists. "Voter File Saved Lists" will be populated with lists in the MyVoters area of VAN, and "Campaign Saved Lists" will be populated with lists from the MyCampaign area of VAN:

Find your list and click on the name then select the "Create List" button once you've identified your list:

The following banner will appear once the list has been created successfully: 

Locate your list on the External Contact Lists management page in the Account Tools of your left panel. To create your group, please follow this guide on making your VAN list into a GetThru group.

If you do not see the list you want to import from VAN, please confirm that the file is a saved list, not a search. 

If your list does progress past the "syncing" status, please ensure that your list is less than 50k contacts. Since admins do not have a way to reduce the columns that are imported through the API (and the data in those additional columns), you may need to reduce the size of your list further to ensure that the syncing completes.

If you cannot import a saved list smaller than 25k or are encountering any other difficulties, please contact support@getthru.io, and we would be happy to dig in!