Involves a systematic approach of reaching your voters right at their doorstep. Your volunteers have a list of addresses whom they should contact every day. At each door they knock on, they engage the voter in a meaningful conversation and encourage him/her to cast a vote in your favor.
Worldwide door to door canvassing is the voter outreach strategy that has the highest impact. Because it is extremely personal and facilitates a conversation, your volunteers leave a lasting impression on the voters.
They talk to voters one at a time and hear their problems (or their take on a campaign policy), first hand. Based on what they hear, they can tailor their message to each individual voter.
Despite its acclaimed success door to door campaigns are not used as extensively as other outreach strategies. That is because:
Needs trained volunteers: They should be able to converse intelligently on your party policies and be able to sway voter support.
Ample time and resources: It is a highly time-consuming exercise. Every volunteer will take at least 5 minutes (or more) at each door – thus limiting the number of people he can talk to.
It entails specific voter targeting: You do not want your volunteers to encourage opposition to vote. Worse, you do not want them to waste their time arguing with a staunch non-supporter about your party policies.
So before you decide to use door-to-door campaigns, have a realistic assessment of the resources at your disposal. You should be able to recruit, train, and enable volunteers on a massive scale to make this a success.
