FAQ: GOTV Statewide Events in VAN

Have questions about your Mobilize GOTV event VAN sync? We've got you covered!

Updated over a week ago

Changes to shifts, locations, and attendees

How should I update or delete timeslot dates/times?

Make timeslot changes or deletions in Mobilize, not in VAN!

If a shift (a timeslot) is being canceled AND needs to be removed from VAN, the shift deletion must happen in Mobilize first, for all events that use that shift time. After deleting the shift in Mobilize, delete the shift from the GOTV Event in VAN.

If necessary, you can manually add canceled signups to another shift in Mobilize, which will sync to VAN during the next GOTV campaign sync.

How do I prevent signups for a specific shift in a particular location?

A shift time can be fully disabled for a given location by deleting the timeslot in Mobilize. The shift will remain in the VAN statewide event so long as one of the events in the GOTV campaign has the shift time available.

A shift time can always be capped to prevent further signups by setting a capacity on that timeslot in Mobilize. This will not affect how the Shift times appear on the VAN events.

How should I update locations?

Make location updates in VAN first, then in Mobilize. Never delete locations or location IDs in VAN! Deleting locations in VAN could prevent further signups from syncing.

How should I make changes to a volunteer’s role or move them to a different location or timeslot?

Make changes to a volunteer's role, location, or timeslot in VAN, not Mobilize.

  • Subsequent confirmation emails will include the updated role and shift time

  • In SMS confirmations, role modifications will say "taking action" in place of the event type

  • Messages sent out the same day as changes are made in VAN may not sync back to Mobilize in time before confirmation emails go out

Multiple timezones

How will states with multiple timezones be handled?

If you have an event that is happening in a different timezone than your VAN committee is set to, you should update the shift in Mobilize to the VAN timezone and time.

Mobilize will sync the number associated with the time, regardless of the timezone associated with the VAN committee - e.g. an 8 am CT shift will sync as an 8 am shift, 9 am CT will sync as a 9 am shift, even if the VAN committee is not set to CT.

Co-ownership

How do GOTV events work with co-ownership?

Events created in a GOTV campaign will be shared with any co-owned feeds. Events will be synced as individual events to any promoting or co-owning organizations’ VAN committees.

If a change is made to a signup in one co-owner's VAN committee, we will treat that committee as the "source of truth" when checking for further VAN status updates for that signup. Changes made to the signup subsequently in other co-owners' VAN committees will not be reflected in Mobilize and passed to the co-owning committees. Where signups are synced to multiple VAN Committees through co-ownership, we recommend updating statuses for those signups in Mobilize or in only one of the co-owning VAN Committees to prevent updates from other co-owners being overwritten.

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