NGP 

  • This is the fundraising site that is often mistaken for Votebuilder. Political campaigns can pay a monthly fee to NGP VAN for donor information and a database that integrates with Votebuilder. It enables you to contact donors, maintain donation records, file compliance reports with the FEC, and other finance related things that I know nothing about. If you would like NGP for your committee, contact [email protected].  Access to NGP is restricted to Democratic candidates only.

 

SmartVAN 

  • This is an alternative to Votebuilder for IEs, consultants, and in some states, primary challengers where incumbent protection is written into the State Party’s bylaws. It is a product of VAN and TargetSmart. The voter information comes from the State Party, but proprietary data that is collected by campaigns is NOT included. The State Party has the right of refusal for this service and there is still a sizable fee that is paid directly to NGP VAN. The State Party does not maintain this database.

 

EveryAction 

  • EA is the nonprofit version of Votebuilder. It does not contain voter file information, it is primarily used for organizations like the ACLU to manage email lists and contact supporters for issue advocacy campaigns.

 

Action Network 

  • This is not affiliated with VAN.

 

L2  

  • This is another VAN competitor except this one is non-partisan, they sell data to any political campaign that will give them money including Republicans.

 

PDI (Political Data, Inc.)  

  • The database prevalent in California politics. Similar to VAN, it provides an online user interface for canvassing, phone-banking, data entry, event and volunteer management.