“Cutting Turf”: A guide to dividing up your neighborhood for door to door canvassing

Going door to door is one of the most powerful tactics in our arsenal, especially when you’re doing in it your own neighborhood. It’s a great way to educate people about the issues, find new volunteers and get to know your neighbors. You should also see our general guide to canvassing.

When you’re planning a canvassing event, it’s important to try to figure out in advance where people are going to go. It will make them feel more comfortable and make your team more successful.

To help you think about this, here’s a simple rule of thumb to keep in mind. In 1 hour, most people will be able to knock on 20 doors and talk to 10 people. So you should set your plans and expectations accordingly.

Steps to dividing up your neighborhood:

1) Download and print a map. You can get great maps at www.mapquest.com or www.maps.google.com. You want to enter in the address of the place where you’ll all be meeting to canvass and then zoom into the most detailed view. Print out enough copies of this map so that everyone on your team will have one.

2) Create routes for your teammates. You want to pick a route for each of your team members to take. This should be as simple as possible. Remember to give each person at least 20 houses per hour they’re canvassing. If you’re not sure, just give them more blocks than you think they’ll need. It’s also nice to highlight your team mates’ routes on their maps, so they can easily find their way. Here’s an example:

3) Orient your teammates. Before everyone gets started, don’t forget to make sure your teammates understand where they’re starting from and which direction they’re heading in.