How many calls and callers does my GOTV program need?
A GOTV phone program is sized from four numbers: target households, attempts per household, live contact rate per attempt, and dials per caller hour. With three attempts and a 25 percent per-attempt contact rate, about 58 percent of households are reached live and each household takes roughly 2.3 dials on average, because reached households drop out of later passes. Divide total dials by dials per caller hour for caller hours, then by shift length and calling days for the number of callers you need on the phones each day.
By Frank Carrasco, PhD, founder of The Political Group, 20+ years and 1,900+ campaigns. Last updated .
GOTV Call Volume Calculator
Reach improves fastest from the second and third attempt at a different time of day, not from more attempts at the same hour.
The formula
- Households reached = targets x (1 minus (1 minus contact rate) ^ attempts)
- Expected dials per household = (1 minus (1 minus contact rate) ^ attempts) / contact rate, capped at attempts
- Total dials = targets x expected dials per household
- Caller hours = total dials / dials per caller hour
- Callers per day = caller hours / hours per shift / calling days
How to use it
- 1
Define the GOTV universe
Identified supporters and lean supporters with a turnout score below the reliable-voter line. Do not call reliable voters or identified opponents.
- 2
Set attempts and contact rate
Three attempts at different times of day is the standard. Use your own contact rate if you have one; 20 to 30 percent per attempt is typical for cell-heavy lists.
- 3
Compute dials and caller hours
Total dials divided by dials per caller hour. Volunteer manual dialing runs 20 to 30 dials per hour; a professional dialer-assisted program runs higher.
- 4
Staff the calendar
Divide caller hours across the calling days you actually have. If the callers per day number is not achievable with volunteers, that is the size of the paid program.
Questions campaigns ask
When should GOTV calls start?+
GOTV calls should begin the day early voting or mail ballots open in the state, not the weekend before election day. Voters who receive a ballot-chasing call during the early vote window can act immediately, and every early vote banked removes a household from the election day list.
How many attempts should a GOTV program make per household?+
Three attempts at different times of day is the standard. The second and third attempts add the most reach when they are placed at a different hour than the first, since a household that did not answer at 6 pm is often reachable at 11 am.
What is a good contact rate for GOTV calls?+
Contact rate depends on the list. Landline-heavy senior lists answer at higher rates; cell-heavy lists of younger voters answer less often. Plan with your own historical rate when you have one, and with 20 to 30 percent per attempt when you do not.
Should GOTV be done with volunteers or paid callers?+
Volunteers are free but unreliable in volume; paid professional callers deliver a fixed number of dials on a fixed calendar. Most campaigns run volunteers for supporter recruitment and a paid program for the GOTV universe, because the GOTV window is too short to absorb no-show volunteer shifts.