Canvassing plans

Door-to-Door Fundraising for Nonprofits: How to Plan It

Door-to-door fundraising means sending trained, clearly identified canvassers to residents' homes to explain your organization's work and ask for a gift or a pledge. Much of the work happens before the first knock. Check local permit rules, decide how gifts will be taken safely, prepare identification and scripts for every canvasser, and set up a way to record every door.

This guide walks through that plan in the order you will do it, from choosing an area to the end-of-shift wrap-up. It is part of our guide to planning and running a canvassing campaign, which covers turf, scheduling and launch day for every kind of canvass.

Step 1: Set a goal and choose your area

Start with what you are asking for. A door visit can ask for a one-time gift, a monthly pledge, a membership, or a sign-up for updates or volunteering. Pick one main request for the whole canvass, so that canvassers can learn one ask well and residents get a clear question.

Then choose where to go. Neighborhoods near your programs are a natural start, because residents may already know your work or benefit from it. Count the doors in each area, and estimate how many shifts it will take to cover them.

Example only. If a pair of canvassers visits about 20 doors an hour and works a three-hour shift, one shift covers about 60 doors, and an area of 1,200 doors needs about 20 shifts for one full pass. Time your first few shifts and plan from your own numbers.

Step 2: Check permits and local rules

Many cities, villages and counties have rules for door-to-door solicitation, and some treat requests for donations differently from sales or political canvassing. Before you set dates, call your city or county clerk and ask whether you need a permit, whether canvassers must carry specific identification, and whether any hours apply. If you plan to work in several towns, check with each one.

Your organization may also have obligations at the state level when it asks the public for money. Ask your organization's attorney or accountant what applies to you before the canvass begins.

Our post on whether door-to-door canvassing is legal explains how to look up local rules. If a permit is required, give each canvasser a copy to carry. Treat "No Soliciting" signs as a request not to knock.

Step 3: Identify every canvasser clearly

Residents are right to be careful about strangers asking for money at the door. Clear identification helps them decide whether to talk with you and helps protect your organization's name.

• Badges. Give each canvasser a badge with their first name, a photo, your organization's full name and a phone number that residents can call during the shift to confirm who they are.
• Visible branding. A shirt, jacket or lanyard with your organization's name makes canvassers easy to recognize from the sidewalk.
• A leave-behind. Print a card or flyer with your organization's legal name, what the money will support, your website and how to give later.
• Clear introductions. Canvassers should say who they are with in the first sentence. If they are paid staff and a resident asks, they should say so.
• Screening. Decide whether your organization will run background checks before canvassers start, and apply the same policy to everyone.

Step 4: Decide how gifts will be taken

Decide this before you train anyone, because it shapes the script and the materials.

Never write a card number on paper. Paper forms with card numbers can be lost, copied or left in a car, and they put residents and your organization at risk. Canvassers should also never type card numbers into a note, a text message or any app that is not your payment provider's.

Safer ways to take a gift at the door include:

• Your secure online donation page. Print a short web address or a QR code on the leave-behind, so residents can give on their own phone, during the visit or later.
• A card reader from your payment provider, used only by trained staff and only in the way the provider allows.
• A pledge card with no payment details. Collect a name and the preferred way to follow up, and then send a link to your donation page.
• Checks made out to the organization, never to the canvasser.

Decide on a cash policy in advance. If you accept cash, give a receipt at the door and have two people count it together at the end of the shift. Tell residents how and when they will receive a receipt from your organization, and describe a gift as tax-deductible only in words your accountant has approved.

Step 5: Write and practice the script

Keep the script short, specific and honest. Replace the words in brackets.

Opening

Hi, I'm [Name], with [Organization]. We're a local nonprofit that [one sentence about what you do]. We're talking with neighbors on [street] today. Do you have a couple of minutes?

The ask

Right now we're raising money for [specific project], which will [one plain sentence about what it does]. We're asking neighbors to give [suggested amount], or whatever feels right to you. Would you be able to help today?

If the resident hesitates about a single amount:

Some people prefer to give a small amount each month instead. Would that work better for you?

"How do I know you're legitimate?"

That's a fair question. Here's my badge, and this number reaches our office, where someone can confirm who I am. You're also welcome to give later on our website instead of today.

Not today

No problem at all. May I leave this with you? It has our website and the ways to give if you'd like to later. Thank you for your time.

A note for doors where nobody answers

Sorry we missed you. [Organization] stopped by to talk about [project]. You can learn more or give at [web address]. Thank you, [Name]

Leave notes in the door or under the mat, not in the mailbox. Practice the script out loud in pairs before the first shift. Our post on training new canvassers in their first week has a training plan you can adapt.

Step 6: Plan for safety

• Canvass in pairs, and keep each pair within sight of each other where the street allows.
• Have a supervisor on call during every shift, and agree on check-in times.
• End shifts before dark, and carry charged phones.
• Stay outside the home, even if you are invited in.
• Carry as little cash as possible, and keep it out of sight.
• Leave politely if a conversation becomes uncomfortable, and skip any yard with a loose dog.

Our post on safety tips for door-to-door canvassers has a longer checklist.

Step 7: Track every door in Beacon

A record of every door shows which streets are covered, which households asked for a follow-up and which doors need a return visit. In Beacon, a door-to-door canvassing app that canvassers open on their phones, the steps are:

1. Draw your turf. Turf is the set of streets one canvasser or pair covers. Draw it on the map and assign it. Organization roles (owner, admin, manager and canvasser) let a coordinator manage the turf and reassign it.
2. Add your contacts for the households in your area.
3. Send walk lists. When a canvasser downloads a walk list (the list of doors to visit), the stops are in walking order by distance.
4. Load your script and agree on your notes. Add the script to the campaign, and agree on a short note for each outcome, for example "Gave today", "Pledged, send link", "Wants information" or "Not interested", plus "Follow-up: yes" or "Follow-up: no". Keep gift amounts and payment records in your donation platform, and never put payment details in Beacon.
5. Record every door. Canvassers choose from eight result codes, including contacted, not home, refused, come back later and left literature, and can add a 1 to 5 rating and a note.
6. Watch progress. Turf completion percentages, a leaderboard and heat views of the results show how the canvass is going while it happens.
7. Export results. Download contacts and door results as CSV or PDF for your follow-up list and your board report.

On the Growth plan and up, a coordinator can see canvassers' live GPS locations during a shift. On every plan, a canvasser who walks outside their turf sees a warning on their own phone. Our page on canvassing software for nonprofits explains more.

After each shift

• Reconcile the gifts. Match online gifts, checks and any cash against the shift's door results, with two people present for any cash.
• Send thanks and receipts promptly, in the way you told residents you would.
• Follow up with everyone who asked for information or a link, using only the contact method they chose.
• Schedule return visits for "not home" and "come back later" doors, at a different time of day.
• Ask the canvassers what residents asked about, and update the script and the leave-behind.

Plan your first canvass

Pick one neighborhood, confirm the local rules, and print badges and leave-behinds before the first shift. Start a free 14-day trial of Beacon to set up your turf and script. The trial includes the Starter plan's features, and no card is needed.