LOCATEM
- two-file versionLOCATEM
- two-file versionAfter many years of suffering with partial solutions for membership contact managers, I developed a two-file solution exclusively for Libertarian Party organizations and candidates. It incorporates all of the search options necessary to generate lists by street to facilitate petition gathering. It relates relatives. It facilitates telephoning, emailing and direct response marketing. In does nearly everything any candidate or political organization could want, however a more flexible and comprehensive twenty-nine-file version is contemplated.
The original index.html file was lost May 2000, so this is my attempt at its reconstruction.
LOCATEM consists of two related databases, Libertarian List and Libertarian Measures. These are Apple file names. For the FileMaker files to be readily exchangable between Macintosh and IBM PCs and clones, their file names should be short and end with a file type, e.g. list.fp3 and meas.fp3.
Libertarian candidates and event organizers as well as Region, State and National Party organizations need strong database tools if we are to be sufficiently organized to become the largest Party. They all have special needs and often can't wait for data to be extracted from a centralized database. Each only needs to maintain data about people in their area.
Centralized data is risky. Distributed and redundant data mitigates loss. If all levels utilize copies of the same system, they can more readily import data accurately (matching field names). FileMaker Pro is proposed because it runs on Macs as well as PCs, is relational, inexpensive, easy to use and will dial telephone numbers, fax and email under manual control or as automated by scripts. Scripts can also automate the export, transmission and importing of new, modified and deleted records. Depending on the record type (new, changed, deleted), the importing database can be made to add, add-find-delete or add-find-delete-delete to synchronize data. Email attached files can be formatted to facilitate importing, or email messages can be sent with headers and footers to facilitate parsing and extraction of data from the body of an email message (see http://se1.com/forums/ for an example). I suspect encryption and decryption can also be automated if necessary.
The Person, Street, Mail, Phone, Carrier and Relation databases can be exclusively used as a sophisticated contact management system for personal or business purposes. Add the Precinct and District databases and you have a sophisticated system for candidates to devise mail, email and fax lists and optimum routes for gathering petition signatures, support and votes. Add the Region and Donation databases and you have a sophisticated member, prospect and solicitation management system. Add the State database and you have a sophisticated regional organization management system. Add the National database and you have a sophisticated state organization management system that relies on state organization data.
LOCATEM incorporates many features not found elsewhere, including the ability to predefine which carrier code to use when calling certain area codes and prefixes. It has a mail address with in-care-of prefix in addition to a highly granular location address, which facilitates route planning. It supports family, associate and other inter-person links, unlimited telephone numbers, email and web address, membership information, contribution information, registration and voting districts.
Find subsets of your data using any combination of the fields. Generate a call list for your staff to use. Click a button and a script concatenates the carrier code, area code and number, and dials the complete phone number. Plug your telephone into your modem and you can engage the person you called. Record the results of each call to each number for each contact.
Generate detailed reports and mailing labels of your found set. Sample FileMaker Pro files have report formats that accommodate many label types other than the one currently supported by LOCATEM. Let me know if you have a particular label need.
Perform response tracking and compare the performance of outreach and solicitation methods to determine the best bang for your buck.
The following table was derived from the twelve-file table. Libertarian List records are related to Libertarian Measures records by Record Number (one to one relationship).
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Libertarian List |
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Fields |
Description |
Reason |
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ID, Name, Type (repeating field with Prospect, Member, Candidate, Staff, Officer, Relative, Friend, Associate and Client values), email address, web address, Registration, Nolan score, Donation history and total, Skills, Volunteer interests. |
It's useful to know the relationships among people, particularly those at the same street or mailing address when preparing bulk mailings or signature gathering routes. |
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Physical address, directions in Notes |
Many people may share the same street address, which is important to prioritize signature gathering. |
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Postal address |
Many people may share the same postal address, which is important to prioritize mailings. |
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Area code, Prefix, Number and Type (home, office, fax, pager...), dial button |
Many people may share the same telephone number(s). |
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Carrier number, Area code and prefix that differ from the default. |
Automate the use of different carriers to reduce calling costs by mapping area codes and prefixes to carriers. |
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Donations of various types |
Each person may donate in many ways and amounts and accordingly be more appropriate for some solicitations than others. |
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Membership Region Number and State, Start date, Expiration date, Newsletter Expiration date |
People move among Regions and Regions are redefined. Only the IDs need be changed to establish the appropriate relationship. |
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Districts (repeating field with Supervisor, Assembly, State Senate, Representative, Senate...), Precinct |
By knowing what physical addresses are in what precinct, the persons at those addresses can be readily found. By relating various voting districts to precincts, the voters in each district can be determined. |
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Libertarian Measures |
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Maintaining this data provides an effective way to measure the effectiveness of various registration, membership and fund raising methods. |