UpVote guide · Campaign administration
Customize your campaign settings
Settings controls how your campaign runs in UpVote: Election Day behavior, which voter details volunteers can see and edit, what volunteers are allowed to do, and how the app looks when they log in.
Start here
In the Admin Portal, click the cog icon in the top bar to open Settings. Settings is organized into four tabs. Make your changes, then click Save at the top of the page. Save stays greyed out until something has changed.
General
Account details, Election Day behavior and the welcome text message.
Edit Voter Details Display
Which voter fields appear on the voter card, and which volunteers can fill in.
Volunteer Settings
Support contact, volunteer permissions, Contact Match options and defaults for new volunteers.
App Display
What volunteers see when they first log in, and the links and images shown in the app.
1. General
Account settings
| Admin Profile Image | The campaign admin’s profile picture. PNG files only. |
|---|---|
| Table Page Default Size | How many rows tables in the Admin Portal show per page by default. |
| Time Zone | Your campaign’s time zone. |
Election Day and Vote Counting Settings
| Polling Station Opening / Closing Time | When polls open and close. Election Day mode starts automatically two hours before polls open. |
|---|---|
| Show Countdown Clock Until Election Day in the App | Shows admins and volunteers the time remaining until Election Day. |
| Show Vote Status and Votes Counted Progress Bar in the UpVote App Before Election Day | Turn this on if your race has early or mail-in voting. When it’s off, vote status appears only on Election Day. Vote data comes from the files your admins upload from the Board of Elections or your data provider. |
| Allow all volunteers to report votes on election day | When Election Day mode starts, every existing volunteer gets permission to report votes. Unchecking it later does not remove permissions already granted. |
| Allow Regular Activity on Election Day | By default, new volunteers and new contacts can’t be added on Election Day, so the team stays focused on turnout. Turn this on to let regular activity continue. |
Your Welcome Text Message
Send Welcome Message texts new volunteers when they are added. Use Draft Your Custom Welcome Text Message to write it, and Add Personalization to insert details such as the volunteer’s first name. Keep it short: say how to get started and where to ask for help.
The editor shows a character count and the number of SMS segments. Personalized details count toward the total, so a long name can push a message into an extra segment.
Send Approval Sms To Supporters automatically texts every contact a volunteer adds as a supporter, asking them to confirm their support. A YES reply confirms them as a supporter. A NO reply marks them as Opposed. Because this texts voters directly, check messaging compliance with your Account Manager before turning it on.
2. Edit Voter Details Display
This tab lists every voter field, including your custom fields, with two columns you control:
- Visible: whether the field appears on the voter card. A custom field that is turned off on the Custom Fields page stays hidden, even if Visible is set to Yes here.
- Editable: whether volunteers can fill in the field when it is empty. Changing a value that already exists also requires the Allow Edit Existing Data permission.
| Name | Visible | Editable |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | Yes | No |
| Last Name | Yes | No |
| Street | Yes | Yes |
| Apartment Number | No | No |
| Phones List | Yes | Yes |
Filter, sort or export the list with the controls above the table. Keep official voter-file fields such as name and address read-only unless you have a reason to let volunteers change them.
3. Volunteer Settings
Support
| Phone Number\Email For Support | Where volunteers go for help. Choose a contact your team monitors. |
|---|---|
| Support Platforms | How volunteers can reach support: Text, WhatsApp, Phone call or Email. |
| Volunteers Login Platforms | Where volunteers can log in: the web, the mobile app, or both. |
General Settings for Volunteers
| Allow Volunteers to Add and Edit Voter Records | Lets volunteers add new voters or edit voter details such as name, ID and address. Generally not recommended if you use an official voter file, since those records should stay consistent with your uploaded data. |
|---|---|
| Allow Existing Volunteers to Recruit New Volunteers | Lets volunteers invite new people to the campaign. Turn it on if you want volunteers to help grow the team. |
| Allow Only Registered Voters to Join as Volunteers | Only people who appear in your voter file can be added as volunteers. |
Additional Settings for Volunteers
| Allow Volunteers to Mark Voters as “To Be Determined” Support Status | Lets volunteers mark a voter as “To Be Determined” when their support level is unclear. |
|---|---|
| Sync “To Be Determined” Updates Across All Volunteers | If several volunteers marked the same voter “To Be Determined” and one of them later confirms the voter as a supporter, the voter becomes a Supporter for every volunteer. |
| Don’t Allow More Than One Volunteer Per Voter | A voter already added by one volunteer can’t be added by another. Leave it off if several volunteers may know the same person, and coordinate follow-up instead. |
| Allow Volunteers to Send Messages in the UpVote App Chat | On: volunteers can post in the in-app chat. Off: only the system administrator can post. Chat guide → |
| Quick Contact Match Flow (Recommended) | Lets volunteers mark all the matches they choose as supporters in one step, instead of setting a support status for each one. |
| Auto Contact Match | Automatically adds a volunteer’s contacts to their Outreach List when the phone number and either the first or last name match someone in your voter file. |
| Only Show Volunteers Contact Phone Numbers They Have Added | Volunteers see only the phone numbers they added themselves, not numbers from the voter file. |
| Show Street Number / Show Apartment Number In Search Results | By default, house and apartment numbers are hidden when volunteers search for voters. Turn these on to show them. |
| Allow volunteers to add supporters without phone number | Lets volunteers save a voter to their Outreach List even without a phone number. |
| Mark voter as a supporter after being added by a number of volunteers | Automatically marks a voter as a supporter once this many volunteers have added them. |
Before turning on Auto Contact Match: matching on a phone number and only one name can link a contact to the wrong person, such as a relative who shares the number. If you turn it on, ask volunteers to review their Outreach List and remove anyone who isn’t the person they know. See Contact Match: Guidelines and Best Practices.
A number is not a relationship. Seeing a phone number from the voter file does not mean the voter knows the volunteer or will recognize their number. Encourage personal outreach to people volunteers know.
New Volunteer Default Permissions
These settings are defaults for volunteers added from now on. Changing them does not affect existing volunteers. To change permissions for people already on your team, use Volunteers → Bulk Actions → Add/Remove Privileges.
| Max supporters per volunteer | The most voters a new volunteer can save to their Outreach List. |
|---|---|
| Default allowed searches per volunteer | The number of voter searches a new volunteer is allowed by default. |
| Auto-Verify Volunteer Contacts as Supporters | On: voters a volunteer adds from their contacts are saved as Supporter. Off: they are saved as Likely Supporter. Either way, volunteers should update the status based on their conversations. |
| Allow all volunteers edit existing data | New volunteers can change voter details that already have a value. |
| Allow all volunteers access to support status | New volunteers can see and edit voters’ support status. Without it, support status is hidden from them. |
| Allow all volunteers to edit vote status | New volunteers can mark voters as voted. |
| Grant all new volunteers manager access | New volunteers get manager privileges: they can invite their contacts to join the campaign and can be given access to voter groups. Manager privileges guide → |
4. App Display
Initial Login Settings
| Show initial guide to users | Shows new volunteers a short guide explaining how to use the app. |
|---|---|
| Display an onboarding video for new users | Plays a tutorial video the first time a volunteer logs in to the app. |
| Initial mobile screen | The screen volunteers land on when they open the app. The default is Outreach. Other options include Contact Match, Add Contact, Phone Campaign, Groups, Volunteers, Notifications, Chat, Leaderboard and Action Feed. |
Permissions
| Display Volunteer Rank in the App | Shows each volunteer a rank, from City Council Member up to President, based on how many contacts they have added as supporters. |
|---|---|
| Require volunteers to add phone numbers only from contacts | Volunteers can add phone numbers to voters only from their phone contacts, not by typing them in. |
General
| Instructional Video (link to YouTube) | A YouTube video volunteers can watch from the app. The UpVote Academy videos work well here. |
|---|---|
| Campaign Website | Adds your campaign website to the app menu. |
| Opening Message | A short message for volunteers when they open the app. |
| Comment for the app’s footer | Text shown at the bottom of the app. |
| In-app Background Photo Display | The background image in the app. Use a clear image that fits your campaign’s branding. |
| Platforms for contacting supporters | Which outreach channels volunteers can use with their contacts: Text, WhatsApp, Email and Phone call. |
Watch the settings walkthrough
This tutorial was recorded on an earlier version of Settings. Labels and tabs in your account will look different; use this guide for the current options.
Before inviting your team
- Set your time zone and polling hours on the General tab.
- Review the welcome text message and decide whether to send it.
- Check which voter fields volunteers can see and edit.
- Set the support contact and login platforms.
- Decide on contact sharing, chat posting and the Contact Match options.
- Set the New Volunteer Default Permissions before you add volunteers, since they only apply to people added afterward.
- Choose the app’s first screen, onboarding guide and background image.
- Log in to the volunteer app yourself to check the experience before training.
Common questions
I changed a default permission. Why didn’t my existing volunteers get it?
New Volunteer Default Permissions apply only to volunteers added after the change. For existing volunteers, select them on the Volunteers page and use Bulk Actions → Add/Remove Privileges.
Why can’t volunteers add new contacts on Election Day?
By default, adding new volunteers and contacts is paused on Election Day so the team focuses on turnout. Turn on Allow Regular Activity on Election Day on the General tab if you need it.
Why are new contacts saved as Likely Supporter?
That is the default when Auto-Verify Volunteer Contacts as Supporters is off. Turn it on to save contacts as Supporter instead. Either way, volunteers should update the status after talking to the person.
Why does a volunteer’s app look different from a tutorial?
Settings change what volunteers see and can do, and tutorials may show an earlier interface. Check your campaign’s configuration when guiding volunteers.
What if I’m unsure which option to choose?
Ask your UpVote representative to help you choose settings that fit your program and training plan.
Make your settings part of your onboarding plan
Decide how your campaign will work, check the volunteer experience, and explain the key choices to your team before outreach begins.