VAN Syncing Campaign Process


Connect your account to your VAN committee to create VAN syncing ThruTalk campaigns. These campaigns will sync data back to your VAN instance when combined with a VAN enabled group and VAN syncing script. This guide will detail the process for creating your VAN script and campaign to sync your calling results.


To add your VAN key, open the Integrations page in your GetThru account and input it into the VAN Integration Wizard. 


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Create a VAN Syncing Script


When you have an account with a ThruTalk-enabled API key, your VAN script can sync VAN Canvass Results in a starting question and VAN survey questions or activist codes in questions following the starting question.


From the Scripts Index, you can review your scripts and which VAN committee each script is connected to. To begin creating a VAN integrated script, select the committee (MyVoters or MyCampaign) that your list(s) reside in from the "Create New Script" drop-down.

Screenshot of the 'Create New Script" drop-down for selecting MyCampaign or MyVoters


If you'd like to create a non VAN syncing script, please check out our guide Creating a ThruTalk Script.


Starting Question

Screenshot of the script creation page noting where you can edit the name and starting question

  1. Rename Script: When creating your VAN script, you can start by clicking Rename Script to give it a name. Use a script naming convention that includes the side of VAN (MyVoters or MyCampaign) the survey questions are imported from to make your VAN syncing campaign creation easier. 
  2. Edit: Click Edit to start setting up your starting question.


Screenshot of the starting question edit page where you can update the survey question, add more response options and save changes

  1. Survey Questions: You can edit the starting question's survey question and add more VAN syncing answer options, if desired. Excluding the Talking to Correct Person result, the starting questions syncs automatically to VAN as Canvass Results. Seven common Canvass Result options are prepopulated and cannot be deleted. 
  2. Add: If you would like to add additional Canvass Result options from your VAN instance, you can select the Add button to do so. Selected custom canvass response options will sync with their corresponding canvass code in VAN.
  3. Save: To save changes click the Save button.
  4. + Add a question: To add your next script questions, select the + Add a question option.


Screenshot of the starting question option of adding another custom response option or deleting a custom response option
After adding an additional starting question, you can select the X to delete it or click Add to add more Canvass Result options.


Additional Scripts Questions

Screenshot of an additional script question to select a VAN Sync option

  1. Title: Begin by giving a title to your script question. 
  2. VAN Sync:From the script's Select a question type drop-down, select a VAN Sync option from the list for either VAN Survey or VAN Activist Code. 
  3. Save: Click Save to save any changes and confirm your question setup.


Screenshot of the imported VAN survey question options

Once you click in the Survey Question field, your VAN committee's available question options will display for selection. The questions are ordered by cycle year in descending order and then by the Survey Question names A-Z. Only the Survey Question text will be visible, however. 


Please note that only the drop-down options listed under VAN Sync (VAN Survey and VAN Activist Code) are VAN syncing questions. The data will not sync to VAN if using the following non-syncing options: Script Text Block, Instant Follow Up, Checkbox Pick Many, Freeform, and Multiple Choice (Pick One). You would need to bulk upload that data into VAN.


Create your Campaign > Choose VAN Group


Using the External Contact list, you can create your VAN syncing group. For more information on this process, please check out our guide Creating a Group from a VAN Imported List.


After a script has been created with VAN surveys and your groups are ready, campaign creation can begin. 


Select a script under the correct VAN syncing side for either VAN - MyVoters or VAN - MyCampaign, and only select groups or past campaigns with VAN IDs that were mapped correctly at group upload. Failing to use groups that are mapped to VAN or using groups that are mismapped will cause the sync to fail.

Screenshot of the campaign targeting step where you can select a VAN script and group


After campaign creation is complete and you have launched your campaign, callers can start taking calls and collecting script data to sync with VAN.


Sync Calling Results for ThruTalk


As callers make calls, they will record survey data on their script. A canvass record will be added when survey data is synced at the end of each call. Survey questions imported from the MyVoters committee to a MyVoters script will save to your MyVoters file, while those imported from MyCampaign to a MyCampaign script will save to your MyCampaign file.


Important Syncing Facts

  • All starting question results, excluding Talked to correct person, will sync to VAN with their applicable canvass code. This means if you branch to a survey question or activist code its applicable canvass result will not sync to VAN unless branching from Talked to Correct Person. For more details on script branching, please review our guide Script Branching.
  • If the caller uses "Talked to correct person" but does not record a VAN survey data or an activist code, the canvass code will sync back as "not home."
  • System call results will sync back automatically as ThruTalk makes calls while script results will sync back after the call is completed. 
  • You and your callers do not need to press any special "sync to VAN" button. If your campaign is set up properly, the survey data will sync automatically as callers move to the next call. Just check your VAN account and you will see the recorded data!


VAN Sync Results > The Details on ThruTalk

 

Below are details on the outcomes generated by calling in ThruTalk and the data received by VAN. To learn more, refer to our guide System Call Results and Script Results.


System Call Results versus Script Results


Your list will produce two types of canvass code results to sync to VAN:

  • System results - are collected from calls where the call is not answered or when the sound detected by the dialing system is not a human voice.
  • Script results -  are collected from calls that are delivered to your callers. These outcomes are selected manually through the starting question template. The default starting question must be used, and the existing selections can not be edited for the sync to work correctly.


System results will sync to VAN with these canvass codes applied to the call results for calls not answered by a human:

  • Voicemail = Not home
  • Busy Signal = Not home
  • Deliverability Error = Deliverability Error
  • No Answer = Not Home
  • Not Dialed = Does not sync. To redial those contacts, refer to our guide on Dialing Hour Enforcement


Script results will sync to VAN with these canvass codes, which are unchangeable for the Starting Question Template:

  • Deceased = Deceased
  • Deliverability Error = Deliverability Error
  • Moved = Moved
  • Not home/No Contact = Not home
  • Refused = Refused
  • Voicemail = Not home
  • Wrong Number = Wrong Number
  • Custom Addition = Matching canvass code in your VAN instance