MiniVAN

NGP VAN

About this app

miniVAN 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 iOS or Android device. 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.

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.

MiniVAN Touch is developed and maintained by NGP VAN and is not affiliated with any government agency.

Ratings and reviews

I really wish this were better. Location detection misses my actual location by blocks, so it's useless. App regularly fails to initially locate me, and so refuses to allow me to enter a list number until I try multiple times. There is no way to mark an entire household is not home, which is far and away the most common thing to have happen when canvassing. there's also no simple way to mark that I was unable to locate a given address. It's better than a pen and paper, but with some bug fixes and interface improvements, it could be so much more useful.

I can't input someone into the app without it crashing and kicking me out. I have to uninstall and then reinstall it. I then lose all progress from my actual list. I'm in the process of losing my job simply because the app won't let me add someone's info into the app. It says that there's a bug. Wish I could attach the photo so you can read what it says when it kicks me out.

Why is Lit Drop on the list of reasons I couldn't contact this person? It makes no sense. After I enter that they're not home, it should tell me if I should leave literature or not, based on their history - I shouldn't have to check their history manually and then decide whether to leave the lit or not. Once you click on a name, their address doesn't show at the top. I had to spend a lot of time clicking back and forth between tabs. The order of addresses had me backtracking, which wasted time.

What’s new

Easier note-taking in MiniVAN: a new floating “Add Note” button makes it simple to log notes, and we added the option to dictate and save transcribed text to reduce time spent entering notes.