NGP VAN

About NGP VAN
NGP VAN is a political campaign software designed to help labor unions and democratic committees raise funds and generate reports in accordance with compliance protocols. It offers a custom call sheet builder that enables administrators to create various call sheet templates and record details regarding communication with donors.
Managers can automatically reconcile contributions processed via credit card, facilitate returns and voids, and track donors’ giving history on a unified interface. NGP VAN allows supervisors to visualize data across donor prospecting spreadsheets and share fundraising data with colleagues. Teams can also integrate the system with Facebook to select target audiences and organize marketing campaigns.
NGP VAN offers a predictive dialer functionality, which lets businesses schedule calls and contact multiple voters. Operators can also create responsive sign-up and donation pages and track customer engagement levels across multiple channels in a centralized dashboard.
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- Industry: Retail
- Company size: Self Employed
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
Contact
Reviewed on 2018/12/17
Pros
The internet processing and the phone number is still in my place I don’t know what to do with the other phone number
Cons
Slow To with the new number of you guys at work and I wanna I gotta get you some good time to go home then go get it done so you don’t need me and you can give it back to me and then I’ll throw you a phone call me if you wanna or not I’m just waiting on you to call him and tell him you got the money I got you some money for me
- Industry: Political Organization
- Company size: 11–50 Employees
- Used Weekly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
NGP VAN is an extremely helpful tool
Reviewed on 2024/02/10
I've used NGP VAN for a couple of years, and we are actively using this program now prior to the...
I've used NGP VAN for a couple of years, and we are actively using this program now prior to the March Primary Elections.
Being able to identify registered Democrats, and canvass them is a modern miracle. Just this week we used NGP VAN to perform a literature distribution (lit drop) encouraging folks to vote early if they can, or vote on Election Day. We put together door hanger bags with voting dates and times, info on President Biden's accomplishments, voting locations, and a list of candidates running for State and local offices.
NGP VAN offers so many resources like names and addresses, actual maps and directions to these homes. It includes video instructions for the program's use as well. We can cover large areas of our county and are prepared to ask for residents by name, which makes the first encounter go smoothly. Thank you for giving us this very valuable tool.
M Davis 2nd Vice Chair & Volunteer Coordinator
Pros
I like NGP VAN's accuracy and multiple options. There are different maps to help with locating an address. The screens switch smoothly from one to another, no lag time at all, as long as you have internet connection. Even in our small, rural mountain town we have very few problems. I can't always say that about some programs.
Cons
You need some training, and actual experience, using this program, to maximize its use. NGP VAN can do so many things that it takes using it, with some instruction, to comprehend all it can do.
Response from Bonterra
Hi Marilynn, thank you so much for your feedback! We're thrilled to hear how NGP VAN has become an integral part of your election prep - your success is our victory dance! Training is key, and we appreciate you recognizing the power of mastering our tool. Your lit drop sounds epic, and we're proud to support your hard work in making every vote count. Cheers to making those first encounters smoother, and thank you for bringing communities together. Best of luck to you this March - you've got this!
- Industry: Political Organization
- Company size: 2–10 Employees
- Used Daily for 1-5 months
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 7.0 /10
My first month with NGP VAN
Reviewed on 2024/02/06
The Help Desk is not helpful. As a new customer, my campaign manager and I needed a lot of...
The Help Desk is not helpful. As a new customer, my campaign manager and I needed a lot of reassurance and handholding, because the learning curve is steep. A natural place to start seemed to be at the Help Desk. Unfortunately, this was: (1) not live (it is via an online work order; (2) not necessarily prompt; (3) as often as not referred me and my campaign manager back to the written documentation, which too often was not helpful --and which we had typically already accessed and found it wanting. We simply stopped using the non-helpful Help Desk. My distinct impression was that my time was a lot less valuable than the Help Desk personnel time. Most of my questions could have been answered in a minute or two by an expert; instead, I was directed to online materials that took a long time to plow through, and often didn't answer the question. Now for the good news: the thrice-weekly Zoom sessions with [sensitive content hidden] have been CRITICAL to our going forward with NGP8. They know their subject matter cold, are patient and excellent communicators, and are able to provide quick, definitive solutions to problems. It gives me great comfort to know that they are there and accessible. I STRONGLY suggest that NGP clients be directed to them immediately in the onboarding process, and in fact recommend that it be a requirement that all newbies have an early-on get-to-know-you session with the Zoom team. This would short-circuit a lot of frustration and, frankly, anger with NGP. We shouldn't have had to suffer buyer's remorse and be on the verge of bailing on NGP. Fortunately, we got past that.
A suggestion: Consider having a "Suggestion" box, perhaps right on the user splash page. I know there have been several times with [sensitive content hidden] that they've said, "Yes, I see what the problem is and we'll talk with our team about changing that." It would be good to know that there is an embedded process for change and improvement... ideally, with feedback so that the person who made the suggestion could be apprised of follow-up. This would yield great buy-in from clients, since they'd now be a part of the 'development team' and would see that their input is important. Moreover, there is simply no better source of improvement than feedback from end-users.
NGP VAN is a great product, but is bedeviled by its rather outdated front end that is apparently layered on legacy design and nomenclature that made sense 10 or 15 years ago. It shouldn't take weeks of frustration to be at the point where you're confident that you made a good choice. And good software design shouldn't demand that a new user learn a non-intuitive front end. A suggestion: Have an alert, non-defensive site navigation team, good listeners, sit side-by-side with a few new clients and watch as they take their first baby steps with NGP8. Too often what is intuitive to engineers and experienced users is in fact counter-intuitive to new users.
The integration with ActBlue is really great, and critical to the utility of NGP8.
Pros
It is comprehensive. The scope is remarkable, and I really appreciate the work that went into building it. It also appears to be pretty bomb-proof; it hasn't crashed on me yet. The best part of it has been the initial onboarding person ([sensitive content hidden]) with a special callout to [sensitive content hidden]. See my comments below about how critical they have been to successfully navigating the onboarding process.
Cons
It starts with the name. NGP vs. NGP VAN vs. NGP8...this single example pretty much sums up the nomenclature and relationship confusion. It was not at all evident the flow of information between the various entities, between VoteBuilder-MyCampaign-MiniVAN-NGP VAN...and that NGP VAN is the same as NGP8. There needs to be a wholesale review of naming conventions and definitions. (Too often the definitions don't conform to standard English or are inconsistent--e.g., "Delete" can mean 'delete from a form or from a search result,' or it can mean 'delete the record from the database.') There should never be confusion about what is going to happen when you push a "delete" button. That is just one example of dozens.
Alternatives Considered
NationBuilderReasons for Switching to NGP VAN
NGP VAN/NGP8 is within the Democratic ecosystem. It was used by several regional campaigns, albeit not by smaller campaigns like ours (for a state House district). I must say that NationBuilder impressed me a great deal, and seemed to have a much cleaner, more generally intuitive interface (although what I know of it is simply through their marketing Zoom). The input we had about NGP8, before signing up, was that it was (for larger campaigns, anyway) necessary, a "gotta have," but difficult to master. Necessary, but not beloved. It would be great to see NGP8 become easier to learn/use and more widely used. It has very little penetration, at least in my part of the country, to down-ballot races, which is a shame.- Industry: Political Organization
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Monthly for 1+ year
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
NGP Van, from Carl Hamm
Reviewed on 2024/12/05
Excellent. I am quite pleased with it. A most excellent product.
Excellent. I am quite pleased with it. A most excellent product.
Pros
Easy to use, an abundance of information
Cons
Nothing really. It is quite helpful with my needs
- Industry: Civic & Social Organization
- Company size: 51–200 Employees
- Used Daily for 2+ years
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Review Source
Overall rating
- Value for Money
- Ease of Use
- Customer Support
- Likelihood to recommend 10.0 /10
NGP VAN- The Only Choice for Campaigns
Reviewed on 2024/03/26
Very positive overall, it maintains all of the lists, data, call, knock, and text data as well as...
Very positive overall, it maintains all of the lists, data, call, knock, and text data as well as valuable targeting information.
Pros
The platform is a fundamental tool to every campaign whether it be fundraising or canvassing, it is the most essential software a team can have when trying to win elections.
Cons
The interface continues to be clunky and somewhat difficult to navigate for new users. It functions first as a database as opposed to an active management tool.
NGP VAN FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions for NGP VAN.Q. What type of pricing plans does NGP VAN offer?
NGP VAN offers the following pricing plans:
- Starting from: US$45.00/month
- Pricing model: Subscription
- Free Trial: Not Available
Pricing is based on the campaign requirements.
Q. Who are the typical users of NGP VAN?
NGP VAN has the following typical customers:
2–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–500, 501–1,000, 1,001–5,000
Q. What languages does NGP VAN support?
NGP VAN supports the following languages:
English
Q. Does NGP VAN support mobile devices?
NGP VAN supports the following devices:
Android (Mobile), iPhone (Mobile), iPad (Mobile)
Q. What other apps does NGP VAN integrate with?
NGP VAN integrates with the following applications:
Hustle
Q. What level of support does NGP VAN offer?
NGP VAN offers the following support options:
Phone Support, 24/7 (Live rep), Chat
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