Overview


You can integrate your ThruText account with your VAN instance and bring your Activist Codes, Survey Questions, Events, and Canvass Results into your ThruText campaigns when creating surveys. Responses to these surveys will be written back to your VAN data file.


You can sync the following data:

  • Survey Questions and Activist Codes are available for sync through both MyVoter and MyCampaign.
  • Events are only available through MyCampaign.
  • Canvass Results are only available through MyVoter.


Note - Freeform surveys cannot sync back to VAN. Information typed in will need to be bulk uploaded to your committee as "notes."


VAN contact history will be updated when contacts are first texted within the campaign (if the "Texted" status is enabled) and when survey responses are logged.


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


After that, you'll need to follow these three steps:


Step 1: Upload groups with VAN id and/or VAN Campaign id 

When we enable your VAN sync, we will create two important custom fields in your group uploads, van_id (from the voter file) and van_campaign_id (from MyCampaign or your EveryAction/NGP8 instance).


If you want to sync information from ThruText to VAN for a particular group, you must upload one or both of these custom fields. 


If you include only VAN ID, you will be able to access survey questions, activist codes, and canvass results at the voter file level. 


If you include your VAN Campaign ID, you will be able to access survey questions, activist codes, and events at the MyCampaign level in VAN (or in your EveryAction/NGP8 account). 


Map these custom fields when uploading groups or importing groups from VAN:

Mapping a VAN custom field

Step 2: Set up ThruText survey questions by importing from VAN  

Campaigns that target groups where VAN ID and/or VAN Campaign ID have been mapped will have the option to "Import from VAN" when creating a new ThruText Survey Question.

Import from Van button

ALL groups in your campaign must be mapped to VAN ID (and/or MyCampaign ID) to be properly integrated into VAN. If just one group is not mapped to a VAN ID field, then you will not see the "Import from Van" option.


Note: If you do not see the "Import from Van" option in the ThruText campaign creation wizard survey section, it likely means you did not properly map VAN ID or VAN CAMPAIGN ID in the group upload process.


If you have both VAN ID and/or VAN Campaign ID mapped to the groups in this campaign, you should see the following three to six options:

Import from Van selection options


Step 3:  Collect your data

  1. See Sync Responses — Survey Questions and Activist Codes for information on collecting and syncing survey questions and activist codes in both MyVoter and MyCampaign.

  2. See Sync Responses — Canvass Results (MyVoter Only) for information on how to collect and sync canvass results in MyVoter.

  3. See Sync Responses – Events (Campaign Side Only) for information on how to collect and sync events in MyCampaign/EveryAction (NGP8).


A few notes about contact history updates:

  • This synchronization of the “Texted” result code will only occur when the initial “scripted” messages are sent in a campaign that has valid VAN ID (voter) or VAN Campaign ID custom fields attached, or both.
  • If multiple initial script messages are sent in ThruText on the same day to a contact with the same VAN Voter ID or VAN Campaign ID within your committee, VAN will only reflect the “Texted” contact history once for that day per file in VAN.
  • If VAN-integrated survey question(s) are answered for that contact on the same day, it will change the contact history result code from “Texted” to “Canvassed” and update the timestamp.
  • Contacts opted out within a VAN-integrated campaign will sync a contact history record with the result code 'Do Not Text' (if this status is available in your VAN committee). It is important to note that this sync will only occur if the opt-out occurs from within a campaign itself and not if the opt-out is added manually from the account dropdown at the administrative level.


If you have properly set up your ThruText Survey Questions by importing from VAN, the sync will happen automatically as your texters send initial scripted messages and record data. You do not need to press any special "sync to VAN" button at the end of the campaign. Just check your VAN account, and you'll see the data recorded in ThruText show up!