Custom Fields

Your voter file is the foundation of your voter database, with fixed data points defined in the voter file template. Most campaigns also create custom fields, which are extra columns for any category or type of campaign-specific data beyond voter ID, name, contact info, and address, and these fields are often crucial for tracking and driving your GOTV efforts.

There are two categories of custom fields:

• Fields you already know the values of, populated from data uploads (voter file or BOE data). Common examples: political party, vote-by-mail status.
  
• Fields you ask volunteers to fill out based on their conversations with contacts. Common examples: candidate ID, vote plan.

Custom fields give you better targeting and much clearer reporting on virtually any metric or data point you are collecting. 

To Add a custom field

1. Go to the Custom Fields page in the Admin Portal.
   
2. Click Add to create a new field.
   
3. Choose the field type:
   • Dropdown menu
   • Free text
   • Date
     
4. For a dropdown, you will add the options (for example: “Independent”, “Democrat”, “Republican”, “Unaffiliated”).
   
5. Set the parameter name
   
   • Pick a clear, short name like “Party”, “Vote by mail status”, “Candidate ID”, “Vote plan”.
     
6. Set visibility options:
   
   • Show on the voter details card for each contact
   • Show on the main screen of the app under each contact’s name
   • Show during the supporter addition stage (this is only relevant for custom field data you will populate via upload)
     

Updating custom field values

There are two ways to fill or change custom field values: Manual Update and Bulk Upload.

Manual Update

Manual Update is for changing custom fields one voter at a time. Open a voter’s record in the admin portal or UpVote app, edit the custom field on screen, and save.

Update via Excel in Upload (recommended for large data)

Use this when you have a file from your voter file provider or BOE.

1. Go to the Upload Center.
2. Start a new upload and choose Update Custom Fields or Update Multiple Custom Fields.
3. Choose your search type (usually match by Voter ID).
4. Under Additional fields, select the custom field(s) you want to update (for example, Party or Vote by mail status).
5. Upload your Excel or CSV file and map the columns as shown on screen.
6. Review the preview to confirm each value matches the correct voter.
7. Approve the upload to apply the updates.

This is how you bulk populate fields like political party and vote by mail status across thousands of records. Be sure to visit the Upload Center when you are done and tap ‘Upload Details’ to download a report showing which rows were successfully updated and check for errors. 

3. Best practices for core custom fields

UpVote recommends that most campaigns:

• Use uploads to populate: Political party and Vote by mail status (If you are getting data updates on votes counted during the mail-in voting period) 
• Ask volunteers to populate: Candidate ID (which candidate or slate a voter supports in multi candidate environments) and Vote plan (early vote, vote by mail, Election Day, already voted, etc.)

When you combine uploaded data with information volunteers collect in the field, Advanced Search becomes one of your most powerful tools. You can quickly target segments like “likely supporters with mail ballots who do not yet have a clear vote plan” and assign them for relational outreach in UpVote. Custom fields are what make this level of targeting possible, so define them carefully and keep them updated as a core part of your GOTV strategy.