Field Organizing: A Complete Guide
Voter contact decides elections. Money doesn't win races unless it turns into direct voter contact, and volunteer time is no different. I've spent 17 years building, fixing, and running field programs that actually work. Here you'll learn the structured field approach I teach. This is the same system I use to recruit volunteers, knock doors, run walk days, and move voters in real campaigns.
The Phases of Field Work
Field is a sequence of phases, each with its own purpose and tasks. The timeline matters because your goals change throughout the campaign.
Org Building
Early in the cycle, your job is to build the team that will carry the campaign. You will:
- Recruit staff
- Identify volunteers
- Bring on interns
...and lay the groundwork for the rest of your field operations. This is when you define your structure, figure out who does what, and build your list of volunteers.
Identification
You begin talking to voters you haven't identified yet: independents, soft partisans, and people who could be persuaded. Calls are usually the first step, followed by your first door passes. Ask voters who they plan to vote for, and based on their response, mark them as supporters (recruit them), undecided (persuasion targets), or opposition (remove them from your universe).
Persuasion
Once you know who's undecided, you send your best people to their doors. This is where your training matters. Voters are more open to real conversations than most candidates expect, and the earlier you begin persuading them, the more likely you are to shift their vote.
GOTV
Early voting and mail ballots stretch GOTV into a multi-week process. You focus exclusively on your identified supporters:
- Absentee push and chase (voters who have a history of voting by mail)
- Early vote push (everyone else)
- Election Day turnout (anyone left)
Building the Team That Makes Field Possible
No matter how big or small your district, you cannot reach all the voters alone. That's why your job is to build a volunteer structure that's strong enough to carry the workload. That takes staff, volunteers, and the right techniques for organizing and managing them.
Recruiting Volunteers
Start with known supporters. Make recruitment calls with a brief pitch, a sense of urgency, and a clear, specific ask ("Can you join us on Saturday at 10 AM?"). After each call, take notes so you can follow up. Your list becomes the backbone of your field operation.
Staff vs. Volunteers
Anyone putting in 20+ hours weekly should be staff, not a volunteer. Staff should be trained, reliable, and able to manage their own responsibilities. Volunteers should never hold responsibilities so critical the campaign breaks if they walk away.
The Neighborhood Team Model
The best modern field programs use a layered leadership structure:
- Volunteers (2-5 hrs/week)
- Team Members (5-10 hrs/week + a specific function: Canvass Captain, Phone Bank Captain, Data Captain, etc.)
- Team Leaders (10-20 hrs/week + responsible for a neighborhood or precinct)
Team Leaders act like mini field managers over smaller areas. This structure increases your outreach capacity and creates a self-sustaining organization.
One-on-One Meetings
When you want someone to step into a leadership role (precinct captain, Team Leader, host, etc.) meet them one-on-one. These conversations build trust, allow them to see where they fit in your plan, and help you identify who's ready for more responsibility.
House Meetings
A house meeting is a small gathering of 8-12 people hosted by a volunteer or prospect. They're used to expand your volunteer prospect pool and introduce attendees to the team. They also create the intimacy and motivation that keep volunteers engaged long-term.
Managing and Retaining Volunteers
A volunteer team is only as strong as your ability to keep people engaged.
Systems That Keep Everyone Organized
Use digital tools (never paper!) for volunteer tracking and communication. Google Sheets, Trello, Asana, Slack, or GroupMe all work, and of course there are apps designed specifically for this purpose (ask your party leaders which they use). The point is centralized information to easily consistently communicate with your team.
Training and Development
Untrained volunteers tend to burn out and almost always produce poor-quality data. Good campaigns provide:
- Large training events (often with groups like Leadership Institute)
- Smaller staff-led trainings
- Standardized handouts
- A feedback system for volunteers
Retention: Keeping People Coming Back
Volunteers stay when they:
- Feel valued
- Have fun
- Have ownership in the plan
- See progress
- Receive regular follow-up
Hosting events, sending weekly updates, and building a sense of community all help retention dramatically.
Outreach Methods: Doors and Phones
Door Knocking
Door-to-door outreach produces the highest quality conversations you can have on a campaign. A real person standing at your door tends to make an impact in a way digital tactics simply cannot. That's why doors are also your best method for persuasion, because you can read tone, body language, and interest in real time. Depending on your district, the average volunteer can knock on 10 to 20 doors an hour, and have conversations at every tenth house.
Phone Outreach
Phones let you reach large groups quickly, especially early in the cycle or in districts where walking isn't practical. With the right list and a decent dialer, a volunteer can make fifty to seventy attempts an hour and reliably reach about one voter for every ten calls. It's efficient, scalable, and ideal when you're identifying supporters or chasing early votes.
Other Outreach Methods
Texting, tabling at events, public canvassing (street corners, farmers markets, transit stops), and rallies all have their place. These methods work well for recruiting volunteers, promoting upcoming events, and keeping your visibility high, but because they aren't targeted at specific voters, these methods cannot replace the core work of doors and phones. They're support tactics, not the backbone of the field program.
Preparing Volunteers for an Outreach Shift
You prep both door shifts and phone banks the same way: keep the briefing short, explain who volunteers are contacting, why that universe matters today, and make sure every person knows exactly what data they're expected to collect.
Before volunteers start, make sure they know:
- Where to begin (walk route or call list)
- What to say (script or question outline)
- What to record (support level + follow-up asks)
- When the shift ends and where to come back
- Who to call if they get stuck, confused, or uncomfortable
These basics keep volunteers focused, prevent freelancing, and dramatically improve the quality of the data you get back.
Super Saturday
A Super Saturday is a stress test for your field team. You confirm turnout multiple times, prepare materials in advance, and move people out the door quickly. These big push days help you stretch your capacity, build excitement, and show volunteers what a high-energy field program feels like. They're structured differently enough that you'll use most of the same checklist, but plan for more staging, more captains, and more follow-up.
Sample Door Script
"Hi, I'm here with _______, and I have just a quick question. Do you know who you plan to vote for?"
(If yes or leaning yes)
"Good to hear. We're out talking to neighbors today and I wanted to make sure you were on our list. Before I go, would you like a free yard sign? It's an easy way to show support, and we can drop it off. Also, we're organizing volunteers this month. Would you want to help out for a shift or two?"
(If undecided)
"No problem, that's why we're out here. What issues matter most to you right now?" (Record response, thank them, close politely.)
(If not supportive)
"Thanks for your time, have a good day." (No arguing, no debating. Move on.)
Tips for Better Conversations
- Keep your intro short! Voters decide quickly whether to stay engaged.
- Use a pattern interrupt to break the "get this person off my porch" reflex.
- End every interaction by recording support level and the correct follow-up asks.
FAQ
Whenever you have a good excuse to talk to voters petitions, early volunteer recruitment, summer persuasion, or GOTV. As an ancient Chinese general put it, "he who wishes to fight must first count the cost," so start as early as you can realistically afford.
Training fixes most problems. If you think you've trained enough, train again and let your best volunteers lead the next round.
You reach about one-third of voters each pass, so three rounds usually gets you most of the way there. After that, returns drop off unless you have a new reason to come back.
Use the four stages of learning; start simple, supervise closely, then let them operate independently once they understand the work. When someone knows the right move without thinking, they're ready to train others.
A captain handles one specific task while a team leader develops and mentors people. Team leaders run the field in their area, while captains hold down individual roles.
Tools and Resources
These are the tools, guides, and examples that support the structured field approach I teach. They're the same materials I use when training candidates, campaign managers, and consulting teams to run real field programs.
Training & Strategy Guides
Further Reading
Recommended books on field organizing and campaign strategy
Articles I've Written
Last updated: December 2025.
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