Contact Match helps volunteers quickly identify which people in their phone contacts are registered voters, so they can build a personal outreach list and mobilize the people they already know.
This is one of the most important parts of relational organizing. Instead of asking volunteers to contact strangers, Contact Match helps them find friends, family members, neighbors, coworkers, and community members they already have a relationship with.
What is Contact Match?
Contact Match is a tool inside the UpVote app that compares a volunteer’s phone contacts with the campaign’s voter database and suggests likely matches.
Once matches appear, the volunteer can review them and choose which people to save into their outreach list.
This makes it much easier to build a supporter universe based on real relationships.
Why Contact Match matters
Traditional voter outreach often relies on cold calls, door knocking, or texting people who have no personal connection to the volunteer.
Contact Match works differently.
It helps volunteers focus on people they already know, which often leads to:
- more trusted conversations
- better response rates
- faster outreach
- stronger volunteer engagement
- more effective relational organizing
When people hear from someone they know personally, they are often more likely to listen and take action.
How Contact Match works
Here is the basic flow:
1. Open the UpVote app
Log in to the app and go to the Contact Match section.
2. Enable contact access
To use Contact Match, the volunteer must allow the UpVote app to access contacts on their phone.
3. Run Contact Match
The app scans the phone’s contacts and compares them to the campaign’s voter database.
4. Review suggested matches
UpVote shows possible voter matches based on the volunteer’s contacts.
5. Choose who to save
The volunteer decides which matched contacts to save into the system.
6. Start outreach
Once saved, those voters can be contacted later through the campaign’s outreach workflow.
Important privacy note
Volunteer privacy is a core part of how Contact Match works.
Using Contact Match does not mean the campaign gets access to a volunteer’s entire contact list.
Instead:
- the app suggests possible matches
- the volunteer reviews those matches
- the volunteer chooses which contacts to save
- contacts that are not saved remain private on the volunteer’s device
In other words, volunteers stay in control of what gets added to the campaign’s outreach universe.
What the campaign can see
Campaign admins can see:
- contacts a volunteer chose to save
- outreach activity and high-level metrics related to campaign work
Campaign admins do not see:
- a volunteer’s full contact list
- contacts the volunteer did not save
- private contacts that were never added into UpVote
This gives volunteers a clear choice and helps campaigns organize responsibly.
Volunteers can still participate without syncing contacts
Some volunteers prefer not to enable contact access, and that is completely fine.
They can still use UpVote by manually searching for voters in the campaign database.
Manual option:
- Skip Contact Match
- Open the menu in the app
- Tap Add Contact
- Search by name, phone number, or address
- Save voters one at a time for future outreach
This gives every volunteer a way to participate, whether or not they want to sync contacts.
Best practices for volunteers
To get the best results from Contact Match:
Keep contacts organized
Saved names and phone numbers should be as complete and accurate as possible.
Review matches carefully
Not every suggested match will be correct. Volunteers should confirm each one before saving.
Focus on real relationships
The tool works best when volunteers save people they actually know and are comfortable contacting.
Use it early
The earlier volunteers build their outreach list, the sooner the campaign can start activating real relationships.
Best practices for campaign admins
If you are training volunteers on Contact Match, keep the explanation simple:
- Contact Match helps you find voters you already know
- You choose which contacts to save
- Anything not saved stays private on your phone
- If you prefer, you can skip contact syncing and add voters manually
This usually answers the biggest concerns up front and helps volunteers feel more comfortable using the tool.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to sync my contacts to use UpVote?
No. You can skip Contact Match and manually search for voters one at a time.
Does the campaign see all of my phone contacts?
No. The campaign only sees the contacts you choose to save into UpVote.
What happens to contacts I do not save?
They remain private on your device.
Why should I use Contact Match?
Because it helps you quickly find the voters you already know, which makes outreach faster, easier, and more personal.
Is Contact Match only for large campaigns?
No. It can be useful for campaigns and organizations of many sizes, especially any team using relational organizing.
Final takeaway
Contact Match helps campaigns organize around trust.
Instead of building outreach only through cold contact, it helps volunteers identify the people they already know, choose who to save, and turn real relationships into meaningful voter outreach.
That is what makes Contact Match one of the most practical and powerful tools in the UpVote app.