Admin guide · Volunteer assignments
Assigning volunteers to groups of voters
Give volunteers access to a voter group so they can help organize outreach to a defined audience.
How volunteer access works
In UpVote, all users are volunteers. Volunteers have manager privileges by default, which allow them to do two additional things:
- Recruit other volunteers to the campaign.
- Be given access to a group of voters by an admin.
“Manager” describes these privileges, rather than a separate type of user. Group access is assigned by an admin; having manager privileges does not automatically give a volunteer access to every group.
Organize through your broader community
Relational organizing starts with people you know, and it can also extend through shared communities: a church, synagogue, union, alumni group, or another organization you belong to.
Assigning a voter group to a volunteer helps you organize around those connections. A volunteer who belongs to the community may be well positioned to introduce the campaign, explain why it matters, and encourage participation.
- Track voting progress: Where the state provides vote-by-mail or absentee ballot status updates and those updates are available in your campaign’s UpVote data, use them to identify who may still need follow-up. These updates show ballot status, not how anyone voted.
- Organize calls: Turn the voter group into a Phone Campaign to coordinate callers, a script, and recorded responses.
Use Bulk SMS thoughtfully
Sharing a community does not mean every member knows you or recognizes your phone number. An unexpected message can be reported as spam.
For personal bulk messaging, choose people you know and expect to welcome your message. Introduce yourself and explain your connection to the community and the campaign. This can help recipients understand who is contacting them, but does not guarantee recognition or prevent spam reports.
Example:
“Hi, it’s Adam. I’m a fellow member of Temple Beth Jacob,
and I’m reaching out on behalf of [Campaign] about an
issue affecting our community.”
Follow the personal messaging best practices: keep SMS outreach within 150 recipients per rolling 10 hours and 50 recipients per hour. Use small batches and take breaks to review replies and record responses.
For WhatsApp, focus on existing, welcome conversations and keep new outreach within 50 conversations per rolling 10 hours, spread throughout the day. These are UpVote recommendations, not guaranteed safe allowances.
1. Choose the voter group
Open the Groups page in the Admin Portal and find the group you want the volunteer to access.
Need to create the audience first? Follow the Groups and Tags guide .
Remember: A group is dynamic. Voters can enter or leave as their records meet or stop meeting its criteria.
2. Add the volunteer from the Groups page
Use the group’s volunteer-assignment controls to select the volunteer and give them access to that group.
You can also manage group connections through the volunteer’s record on the Volunteers page.
If a volunteer’s manager privileges have been changed from the default, check those privileges before assigning group access.
3. Confirm access and explain the next step
Check that the intended volunteer is connected to the correct group. Tell them which audience they will be working with, what you want them to do, which outreach channels are appropriate, and how to record their follow-up.
Example: “You have access to our Northside supporters group. Please coordinate follow-up for this area and keep voter responses up to date.”
Group access or a personal Outreach List?
Group access lets a volunteer work with an assigned voter segment.
To add voters to a volunteer’s Outreach List, use the separate voter-assignment workflow in Advanced Search .
Access to a group does not mean the volunteer personally knows every voter in it or that those voters have agreed to receive messages. Use personal messaging for established relationships and coordinate a Phone Campaign with your team when calls are more appropriate.