From signup to a first shift
This is the realistic path from a new account to the first doors knocked. The minute marks show how the steps flow together — they're an illustration, not a stopwatch promise. Voter-file access, team availability, and your own decisions set the real pace.
Minute 5
Create your campaign
The campaign is the container everything else lives in: your voter list, your team, your routes, and your results.
Before this step
- An Activate account — email signup, free, no credit card.
- The basics of your race: a campaign name your volunteers will recognize, and a rough sense of the area you're running in.
What you do
- Create the campaign from your dashboard and name it.
- Confirm the basics. Nothing here is locked — you can adjust details later without starting over.
What exists when you're done
A campaign exists with you as its manager. It has no voter data and no team yet — that's the next two steps. Creating your first campaign also includes 25 free Credits, the pay-as-you-go balance (1 Credit = $1) for optional services like texting later; canvassing itself doesn't need them.
Next: Bring in your voter dataMinute 15
Bring in your voter data
Your voter file is the raw material of the field program: the names and addresses that become routes and walk lists.
Before this step
- A voter file as a CSV — from your state or county election office, a vendor, or a prior campaign. If you don't have one yet, the state-by-state guide below shows where to request it, what it costs, and how long it usually takes.
What you do
- Import the CSV. Activate helps map your file's columns; the optional AI-assisted mapping reads only headers and sanitized samples — never voter PII.
- Review the mapping, fix anything that looks off, and confirm.
What exists when you're done
Your voter list is stored encrypted — AES-256 at rest — grouped by address and ready to become routes. There's no bulk-decryption path; when canvassing starts, each canvasser sees one assigned record at a time.
This is the step with the most variable timing. A file already in hand imports in minutes; requesting one from your state can take days. Start the request early and do the rest of your setup while you wait — volunteers can join before the list arrives.
Next: Prepare the team inviteMinute 20
Prepare the team invite
Your team joins through one shared code — no account creation on your side, no app to distribute.
Before this step
- A campaign (minute 5). Voter data can come later; inviting the team doesn't depend on it.
What you do
- Open the invite screen and get your canvasser QR code and link. Managers get a separate code, so coordination access stays deliberate.
- Share it where your volunteers already are: the group chat, the kickoff meeting, a printed sheet at the campaign table.
What exists when you're done
One reusable join code per role, valid for 30 days, with a fresh code issued when one lapses. If a code spreads further than you meant, replace it — the old link and QR stop working immediately, and everyone who already joined stays on the team.
Next: Volunteers scan and joinMinute 30
Volunteers scan and join
Joining is the step where friction costs you volunteers. Here it's a scan, not an installation.
Before this step
- The invite code or link in your volunteers' hands (minute 20).
What you do
- Volunteers scan the QR code or open the link and create an account in the browser — no app-store download.
- They land on your campaign as canvassers, ready for an assignment.
What exists when you're done
Your team list shows everyone who joined and their role. Removing someone later is a separate team-list action, and it releases their assigned voters back to the campaign.
Next: Run the first shiftMinute 60
Run the first shift
Routes, doors, and a dashboard filling in — this is where the setup pays off.
Before this step
- An imported voter list (minute 15).
- At least one canvasser on the team (minute 30).
What you do
- Set your route size and let Activate group addresses by street and building into routes — an apartment building is one stop, not forty duplicates.
- Canvassers open their assignment and swipe through their doors, logging each response with one tap.
- You watch completion and responses come in on the live dashboard and hand out the next route when someone finishes.
What exists when you're done
Submitted doors are on your dashboard — completion by route, responses, team activity — and your campaign's data exports as CSV whenever you want it. From here, the job is rhythm: the next shift, the next routes, the next review.
Keep reading
Start the first step.
Core canvassing — everything on this page — is free, no credit card. Create your campaign and the rest follows from there.
Last reviewed: 2026-08-01