miniVAN Touch is a mobile canvassing application that integrates with websites provided by NGP VAN. The miniVAN system allows users to export canvassing lists from VAN onto an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Canvassers can then enter data into their device as they talk to people on their list. When the canvassers connect their device to the Internet over a wireless or cellular network, they can upload their data back to the VAN with the touch of a button. Administrative users on the VAN can then review the data and apply it to the database in one quick step.
Canvassing with miniVAN allows NGP VAN clients to spend more time and resources on actually contacting people instead of on data entry. What’s more, it virtually eliminates the lag time between collecting canvass results and putting that data to work.
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MiniVAN Touch FAQ
Is MiniVAN Touch free?
Yes, MiniVAN Touch is completely free and it doesn't have any in-app purchases or subscriptions.
Is MiniVAN Touch legit?
⚠️ The MiniVAN Touch app has poor ratings and negative feedback. Users seem unsatisfied with its performance or features.
There are some lists I have worked on over more than one day (weather, time constraints, etc.). I sync and save my progress after each attempt to be sure. The next time I return to the list to finish it, the previous data is not showing on the map or in the progress section. It’s as if it’s a brand new list and I have done nothing. I have made my own method of tracking by taking screen shots and taking anecdotal notes, but this is time consuming and frustrating. I want to be sure my progress is being tracked correctly.
Very good
Very good app that works well
Not good for lit drop
The swipe left option to show that someone wasn’t home, or I just lit dropped works sporadically. It wants me to record voters’ answers to questions which I can’t ask if I only lit dropped.
Otherwise, it works and is convenient.
Data is gone
There is a serious flaw with this app. Once we switch lists, all the old data is GONE from the app so that we have no idea which areas have already been canvassed. This app has the potential to be a great tool! Please fix this issue. Been canvassing since July and have had to switch to a paper map to try to keep track and not repeat areas. And we sync all the time so it’s not a sync issue.
Rarely do I not swear at this app
1) would like to see all other voters in the household - often I don’t talk to the individual on my list but someone else and it would be helpful to add notes / survey responses for that individual.
2) every time I lock my phone (usually to talk to a voter), the app quits and I have to rebrowse to the individual.
3) want to be able to switch between multiple lists. I often get 2-3 lists from my campaign coordinator and they are all near each other. If I could load all three, I can chart a more efficient route.
4) speaking of routes, the “next door” feature is useless. It rarely displays in the proper order and it doesn’t take my “Not contacted” filter into account.
5) why do I have to reacknowledge the same prompts on every list. I know about canvassing safely. I know about lit drops. I know all this - please let me disable it in settings. Or have it tied to my profile so it is acknowledged once. Or once per campaign season (ie - brief reminder next year).
Don’t install - spam machine!
TL;DR don’t install and tell your nonprofit that you are volunteering for to not use the software because they’re doing everyone dirty, including charities.
The company that makes this software, Bonterra Tech is behind this app, and all other software/solutions by EveryAction, NGP Van, Mobilize, Network for Good, Cyber Grants and Social Solutions. Do not use any of their software - they sell your info.
As if it’s not bad enough to prey on volunteers, adding you to their database with literally no way of getting them to stop. To make matters worse, they use volunteers to harvest OUR contacts too, and your loved ones, coworkers, clients, or whoever else in your phone will also start receiving text spam from politicians that you can’t even vote for because they’re 10 states away, and other charities all asking for money.
What takes the cake is when you contact them to try to get them to stop selling your info, they tell you to report the spam texts as spam. That means they are telling people to get the charities and politicians that we support blacklisted by phone carriers. You’d think that is OK as a practice until you realize they are telling people to hurt the nonprofits that pay their salaries for using their own software.
Did not save my work!
Just finished a canvass with a partner and while I can see their results, mine have disappeared! The route is now showing as incomplete, and they can’t see that I texted folks who weren’t home. I had to send screenshots so they wouldn’t double-text. Very worrisome. I hope this gets fixed in the next update, and that as many features as possible get updated to require as few taps as possible to get through. Canvassing is hard enough without a reliable app! Thank you!
New minivan not as flexible
The only option is to enter not at home. I thought this was a user error but the person helping me use it said that’s what you have to do to track your progress, enter not home regardless of what really happened.
Much better than paper
I’ve been canvassing with miniVAN for a few months now, and the benefits far outweigh my complaints. Being able to see all the houses you’re going to along with your own location is so much easier than trying to follow a paper list of addresses (which I’d end up finding on my phone’s map anyway!) My only complaints are that results imputed from paper packets don’t appear on the app, and that sometimes the gps will show the icon for the address at a completely different location from where it actually is (I was walking “park ave.” and it showed some of the houses as being across the city on “park st.” and I didn’t realize the mistake until I had already driven across the city to get the rogue houses -_-). Still, better than paper!
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