Using Goal Tracker in RunningMate
Goal Tracker is a powerful tool that allows users to calculate their win number, then set goals and measure progress towards those goals at both a district and precinct level. It can help identify priority precincts - those with the most opportunity for improvement. Users can also set and monitor voter registration goals.
The video walkthrough of this process is at the bottom of this article.
Setting your Campaign Goals:
First, click Goal Tracker on the left hand side of the RunningMate screen.
Click Campaign Goals, which will bring up the following screen:
Click Calculate Campaign Goals.
Step 1 of 4: Similar Election Data
This screen will ask users to add data for between one and three past similar elections. Generally, this information will be found on the Secretary of State’s office website. For detailed instructions, see the finding similar election data article. We recommend adding information from 3 past elections when calculating the Win Number and goals.
Step 2 of 4: Campaign Win Number and Turnout Estimates
This page shows the likely voting rate based on the past turnout that was input in the previous screen, the current number of registered voters, and below that is the win number estimate and margin of victory.
- Each of these three fields can be adjusted.
- Adjusting the margin of victory will increase the win number estimate from its default 3%
Step 3 of 4: Strategic Goals
The top shaded portion of the page shows the Support Goal, which is the Win Number multiplied by 150%.
This step breaks down your support into categories: Inferred Support and Voter ID Goal, which is broken down further into Turnout and Persuasion Universes.
The Voter ID Goal represents voters that the campaign needs to gain support and votes from to win the election. These goals can be adjusted on this page.
- Inferred Support - support the campaign likely already have just by being a Democrat. These are your base voters - highly Democratic and highly likely to turnout to vote.
- Voter ID Goal - Turnout: these are voters who are likely to vote Democratic when they vote. They need to be persuaded to turn out and vote in this election.
- Voter ID Goal - Persuasion: these are voters who are likely to vote, but may need to be persuaded to vote for your candidate.
Step 4 of 4: Overview of Campaign Goals
This page allows users to review the campaign goals that have been set before saving them. Please note that in this version of the tool, once the goals are saved in this step they cannot be edited.
Once satisfied with the campaign goals, click Save. REMINDER: In this version of the tool, users will not be able to edit the goals once they've clicked Save and continued past this point.
Goal Tracker
Goal tracker reflects the goals that have been set and the progress that's been made towards those goals. As the campaign makes contact with the constituents and gains their support, the RunningMate user can import that Support Score and have it reflected in Goal Tracker. The support will be reflected on this map, which shows the Overall Campaign Progress.
When users first set the goals, the map will be white like in the above screenshot, unless they've already imported Support Scores via the Data Management screen. Support Scores of a 1 or a 2 will move the needle on the support progress shown in the Overall Campaign Progress screen.
By hovering over or selecting precincts, users can view the campaign’s progress toward the precinct-level goals.
Selecting precincts:
Users have the option to select precincts by clicking the precinct shape on the map, or by clicking the arrow next to the Precincts filter and either scrolling to or typing the precinct name.
Users have the option to download the list of voters they have selected in Goal Tracker.
Goal Tracker allows campaigns to use RunningMate to focus their time and resources then measure the efficacy of those efforts across the lifespan of the election cycle.