Organize your Trick-or-Treat for max candy

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When you're gearing up to trick-or-treat, it's important to prepare (whether you're pretending to be young enough or taking your kids). No one wants to spend the evening knocking on a bunch of Not Homes, whether you're canvassing for a cause or for candy. So here are a few ways to maximize your loot, using a familiar tool: the VAN!  

• Cut a good list. Accurate targeting is just as important in candy-collection as in canvassing. I start with households with more than one registered voter between 28-45, in neighborhoods near elementary schools. While kids don't help you get to your vote goal, their presence signals likely Halloween-friendly homes. Some VAN's have commercial data that will allow you to look for "Likely Children in Household." One other approach would be to use Counts & Crosstabs to determine neighborhoods with a larger number of people in the target demo - the more possible families, the more likely they'll have candy at the doors.
• Use turf cutter. First, draw possible segments to determine the density of your target group in a particular neighborhood. Second, see how far apart houses are. Third, print a great, satellite-view map that you can use to determine the most efficient route to a candy bonanza. While it might be more "family fun" to have everyone go together, dividing the neighborhood into multiple turfs will ensure maximum coverage (and tooth decay).
• Prep for next year.Are you building long-term candy capacity? If you plan to have a great candy collecting experience year after year, it's time to start. Create a survey question, and make sure to mark important responses for next year. My survey question contains the following responses:
  • Full-size bars
  • Multiple pieces
  • Raisins
  (Of course, don't forget to use the Canvass Result Code for Refused if they won't give you any candy despite your awesome Pirate costume).

This allows me to track the good and the bad, and better target my efforts for the next year. (Seriously, raisins? They're actually worse for your teeth than candy!)

By applying your core organizing skills, you can give yourself the best chance to succeed on Halloween. And seriously, who doesn't love free candy?

Got funny holiday-themed tip ideas for us? Share those, and your strategies for maximizing Halloween haul, in the comments!

This is the first in my series on using the VAN for non-official uses.  Next time, look for my tip on using VAN to put together wedding invitations!

Mike Sager is Director of New Media Projects at NGP VAN, and an NOI community member

Image from OpenClipArt.org, via Creative Commons