Importing External Data into Vottiv

Add donors, volunteers, or custom lists to your campaign tools.

While Vottiv provides high-quality voter file data through our partnership with the RNC’s Data Trust, there may be times when you want to target people outside the voter file—such as donors, volunteers, or organizational contacts.

Vottiv allows you to add and manage this external data in a few different ways.

Ways to Add Data to Vottiv

The voter file provided by state parties and the RNC cannot be edited directly, but you can supplement your campaign data using the following methods:

1. Upload a New List (Add Data)

You can upload a list of people you'd like to contact by going to:

Your Account → Import Data → Add Data

This is commonly used for:

Donors
Volunteers
Supporters outside your district

Important notes:

These individuals are not linked to voter file records
If someone exists in both your upload and the voter file, they will appear as separate (duplicate) records
These contacts can be used for texting, calling, and mail
These contacts cannot be canvassed in Vottiv

2. Update Existing Voter Data

You can also upload additional information (like phone numbers, emails, or tags) to existing voters by going to:

Your Account → Import Data → Update Voter Data

This allows you to:

Add or update phone numbers
Add email addresses
Assign tags in bulk

This method:

Does not create new voter records
Enhances existing voter profiles in your database

You can also make these updates individually using Voter Lookup.

3. Import Data as a Custom Tag

If you want to match uploaded data directly to existing voters, you can import your file as a custom tag.

This method:

Matches uploaded records to existing voters when possible
Applies a tag to those matched voters
Avoids creating duplicate records

This is especially useful when you:

Already have voter IDs or matching identifiers
Want to segment or target a specific list within your voter file

👉 For step-by-step instructions, see: Read Article

Creating a CSV File

CSV stands for Comma Separated Values and is a standard format for spreadsheets.

To prepare your file:

Export your spreadsheet as a .CSV file
Ensure the first row contains column headers
Header names can be anything, but they should clearly describe the data

Uploading Your File

Open your Vottiv account
Go to Your Account → Import Data
Click Import Data
Select one of the following:
- Add Voter Data (for new contacts)
- Update Voter Data (for enriching existing records)
Upload your CSV file
Name your voter group (if adding new data)
Match your columns to Vottiv fields

Using Imported Data

When you upload a new list:

Vottiv automatically assigns a tag to every person in the file
The tag name matches your Voter Group Name
A voter group is also created using that tag

You can use this group to:

Call
Text
Send mail

Just like any other voter group in Vottiv.

Limitations of External Data

External data has some limitations compared to the standard voter file:

Imported records do not include full voter data
Some filters may not work unless the relevant data is included (e.g., age, voting history)
Imported contacts may not appear in certain groups or filters

To ensure accuracy when targeting imported contacts:
👉 Use the Tag filter to select your uploaded group directly