MobilizeAmerica events in VAN

The following document provides guidance on how MobilizeAmerica events should be handled in VAN to avoid errors and overwriting.

Updated over a week ago

Head to our MobilizeAmerica VAN Integration article for in depth information on our VAN sync.
Note: Future feature releases may impact the relationship between Mobilize and VAN events. This set of guidelines does not cover events created through our statewide GOTV sync.

The following edits should be made to the event in MobilizeAmerica:

Note that all events created by Mobilize must be edited in Mobilize, which will sync updates to VAN. We do not support editing Mobilize-created events directly in VAN; editing events in VAN may result in changes being overwritten.

Updating location

  • All updates to the location should be made in Mobilize. Only one location is allowed per VAN event.

Adding shift times

  • Adding any additional shift times to the Mobilize event will create a new event in VAN, removing the need to add shift times directly into VAN.

Deleting the event or event timeslots

  • If you wish to remove an event or timeslot entirely from VAN,  first delete in Mobilize. Failing to delete the event in Mobilize first will result in errors.

  • The deleted event will be renamed to include [Canceled] at the beginning of the VAN name.

  • All VAN signups will move to the  Declined status.

What can be edited in VAN?

Signups from other sources

  • If you are recruiting for your event over the phone or through another source, those shifts can be scheduled into VAN directly. However, those attendees added directly into VAN will not receive our automated confirmations.

Other roles are enabled when the event syncs to VAN

  • Mobilize events support only one role per event. It is possible to add additional roles in VAN to accommodate other types of volunteers (I.e. a data entry role can be added to a Mobilize-created phonebank).

When does information move from VAN back to Mobilize?

Reading VAN Signup statuses into Mobilize

  • Although in general our sync is one-way — we write data into VAN, but do not read data out — the one exception is VAN Signups created by Mobilize.

  • Starting two days before an event, Mobilize will read out the status of upcoming event signups in VAN around midnight every night. If a signup is marked “Cancelled” in VAN, its status will be updated in Mobilize and no reminder emails will be sent. (Read more about our automated notifications.)

  • Mobilize will also continue to check for “Completed” and “No-Show” statuses in VAN for three days after the event, and we will update the status in Mobilize if either of those are set.


Feel free to reach out to [email protected] for any questions regarding our VAN sync.

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