Universe Builder


Using Universe Builder and Accessing your Universes

Universe Builder empowers RunningMate users to create lists of targets that are responsive to more complex criteria than the filtering tools available on the home screen. The application enables the creation of target universes that are closely aligned with their campaign strategy by creating a framework for combining multiple filtering configurations into a single query. 


Roles that can use Universe Builder:

  • Owner
  • Admin
  • Data manager 

Roles that cannot access Universe Builder:

  • Data Viewer
  • Volunteer

Universe Builder in Lite, Pro, and Pro+ Subscription plans: 

  • All editions can access and build universes
  • Pro and Pro+ can download universes
  • Lite users will not be able to download universes 

Accessing Universe Builder 

Users with the appropriate roles will be able to access Universe Builder from the left-side navigation. There is a new icon for Universe Builder underneath Search Individuals. 

There are two new views/pages for the Universe Builder feature:

  1. Universes - Lists all saved universes with options to open a saved universe, delete a universe, or create a new universe 
    • When users click on the Universes icon from the side nav they are directed to this page
  2. Create New Universe - Universe Builder is the page where users can create and combine individual query blocks to construct universes. 
    • Users can view a summary of their universe in the Target Summary Panel, located on the right side of this page.
    • Users can download their universe from this page. 
      • Users must save their universe before they are able to download it

Building a Universe 

The user has access to three distinct sections that they can configure with one or more query blocks to construct a universe.

    • Section 1 = Include people in ANY of these groups.
      • A user must add at least one query block to section 1 before they can save a universe or add query blocks to sections 2 and 3.
        • Once the first query block is added to section 1, the query-building functionality of sections 2 and 3 will become accessible to the user.
    • Section 2 = Who are also in at least one of these groups
    • Section 3 = But NOT in any of these groups

Logic for how query blocks are combined to create a universe 

    1. Within each section:
      1. All query blocks are unioned (e.g., treated as OR within the section).
    2. Between sections:
      1. Sections 1 and 2 are intersected (a target must exist in the output of both 1 and 2 to be included in the universe).
    3. Sections (1+2) are differenced from 3 (any target in 3 will be excluded from the results)

See sample below:



  • Universes must have a valid name to be saved.
    • Name has a max of 50 characters
    • Upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters allowed
    • Universe names must be unique within the workspace
    • You can edit the name of your Universe as needed 
  • Only saved Universes can be downloaded
  • The Target Summary panel will update as users build their universe (as they add query blocks) 
  • Universes are district-specific within a workspace.
    • If I create a universe in District A and then switch to District B, I will not be able to access the universe that was created in District A. 

Building a Query Block/Group

A query block is a distinct configuration of query parameters (include, exclude, any, all, at least, exactly, no more than) applied to filters. For example, you can create a query block that excludes targets with a party lean between 20-60, or include targets that voted in at least 3 of the elections in the following years 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2024.  The ability to apply parameters is what differentiates it from the filters on Home.  


You can think of query blocks as the building blocks of a Universe. 

  • To create a query block go to the universe builder page and click the “+Add Query Block” button. A modal will appear with filter options for you to build your query block


  • Query Blocks must have a valid name to be saved
    • Name has a max of 50 characters
    • Upper and lower case letters, numbers, and special characters allowed
  • The total number of records (targets) responsive to the query block configuration will update every time the filter configuration is changed.
    • The running count of responsive targets is located near the name of the query block in the upper left portion of the modal.
  • Query blocks are saved and accessible only within the Universe for which they were created. 
  • Once a user builds and saves a query block, they can view a summary of the query block on the Universe Builder page > Universe Builder Panel by clicking on the query block name.


  • When building a query block focused on specific precincts, first select Political Geography. Users can then choose the List or Map view to select the precincts they’d like to focus on 


  • On the List tab, click into the Search precincts box to scroll or type in the precinct name.


  • On the Map view, users can select the precincts from the map itself to be added to the precinct list.

Other Notes 

  • The name of the active district is shown below the page title. District dropdown/picker was not implemented as a way to reduce scope
    • If the user has multiple districts and wants to change the district to build universes in, they can go to any one of the other pages (e.g. Home, data management, etc) and change the district via the drop-down and then navigate back to the Universes.  Allowing for district switching on the Universe Builder page is a candidate for future development.
  • Universe Builder is currently not available for state districts.

Definitions 

  • Contact Method - Personal Info: This filter allows users to build universes around the availability of phone numbers and email addresses.
  • Filter Category includes political geography, political, demographics, tags, survey responses. Note that “preset filters” has the same UI style as the other filter categories, but is a filter field.
  • Filter fields are the individual filter such as race, age, party registration, registration status, etc.
  • Filter field options these are the options the user can select from within a filter field. 
    • For example: the filter field is Party Registration. The filter options are All, Democrat, Republican, Other, None.
    • Another example: the filter field is Age.  The filter options are integer inputs of minimum and maximum.
  • Query block or group is a distinct configuration of query parameters (any, all, at least, exactly, no more than, not) applied to filters. A filter can only appear in a query block once, and each filter has exactly one query parameter.
    • Examples of a query block: 
      • Targets in at least two of Vote History General Election 2016, 2020, 2024
      • Targets with exactly three tags of donor, volunteer, yard sign, home owner, children
      • Targets who are not white
      • Targets who are no more than age 50
  • Query parameters are “Include/Exclude”, “Any”, “All’, “At Least”, “Exactly”, and “No more than”. Query parameters communicate what is being requested from the data. These are applied at the filter level (registration status, party registration, vote history, gender, race, etc). Not all query parameters apply to every filter.  
  • Universe output of one or more query blocks. 

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