How Many Calls Can a Campaign Volunteer Make Per Hour?

Use a range, not a performance promise

For a manual phone bank, roughly 15 to 25 dials per volunteer per hour can be a useful starting range. A caller working through many no-answers may dial faster. A caller having longer persuasion or supporter conversations may dial much slower.

The planning number should never replace the campaign’s own data. After the first two sessions, calculate pace by call purpose and list type.

Measure the full funnel

• Dials: numbers attempted.
• Connections: a person answered.
• Target contacts: the intended voter or household was reached.
• Useful conversations: the campaign obtained or provided the intended information.
• Completed outcomes: identification, voting plan, volunteer booking, ride request, or another usable result.
• Data corrections: wrong, disconnected, moved, language, or do-not-contact.

Factors that change the pace

Short reminder calls, longer persuasion calls, volunteer recruitment, candidate calls, and ride coordination all have different pacing. List quality matters just as much. A list with duplicate or dead numbers creates activity without useful contact.

Technology can reduce dialing time, but campaigns should not adopt a system only to increase a dashboard number. Confirm the rules, vendor responsibilities, disclosure, registration, and data handling first.

Plan from useful outcomes

If the campaign needs 300 completed voting-plan conversations, the dial target should be based on its observed connection and completion rates. Dividing 300 by an optimistic calls-per-hour figure will understate staffing.

Include training, login, breaks, technical issues, and end-of-shift reconciliation in the volunteer schedule.

A practical example

A campaign assumes each caller will make forty calls an hour. The first session shows twenty manual dials, six target contacts, and four useful conversations per caller. The manager rebuilds the staffing plan using four useful conversations per hour and improves the list by removing wrong numbers.

Working checklist

• Define whether the target is dials, contacts, conversations, or completed outcomes.
• Use a conservative manual-dial range for the first plan.
• Track list quality and call purpose.
• Include login, training, breaks, and reconciliation time.
• Measure actual connection and completion rates.
• Remove wrong numbers and opt-outs promptly.
• Confirm legal and vendor requirements before using dialer technology.

Common mistakes

• Treating dials as voter conversations.
• Comparing reminder calls with candidate or persuasion calls.
• Rewarding callers for speed alone.
• Leaving bad numbers in repeated call rounds.
• Using new calling technology before confirming the rules.

Sources and further reading

• CRTC — How to contact Canadians the right way during an election campaign
• CRTC — Voter Contact Registry
• National Democratic Institute — Voter Contact

Election law, privacy, calling rules, voting methods, and campaign-finance requirements vary by jurisdiction and can change. Verify current requirements with the applicable election authority before acting.