DC-based Political Software Company NGP VAN promotes LGBTQ-inclus

NGP VAN: A powerful tool for Democrats and progressives

Based in Washington, D.C., NGP VAN is a software company that provides tools for organizing and fundraising for progressive campaigns. NGP VAN is utilized by most major progressive and Democratic campaigns, including the presidential campaigns for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, and Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in 2016.

In addition to supplying technological know-how for political campaigns, NGP VAN also offers fundraising, organizing, and social networking platforms for nonprofits, local governments, and other organizations.

Known for its progressive roots, NGP VAN hosted a “Day Without a Woman” celebrating their female employees and giving back to DC organizations that support women. In an industry that still struggles with diversity, NGP VAN is taking a step in the right direction by acknowledging the enormous value that women from all backgrounds add to the workplace.

By participating in the International Day Without Women, this leading software company reaffirms its progressive values and belief in gender justice. This event was part of a larger culture at NGP VAN- promoting values of equality in the workplace as well as in its analytic techniques as a software company.

It’s no secret that political campaigns on both sides of the aisle are harnessing the power of data analytics to better understand their voters. Software- like the tools developed by NGP VAN- can help political candidates learn more about their voters to create smarter campaigns.

Information generated through NGP VAN’s software can help candidates craft campaigns better focused on what voters like, their attitudes and political views, and the reforms that they seek in their government. The data can also help campaigns craft smaller, targeted advertisements directed at specific groups of voters with similar political views within the progressive voter base.

NGP VAN is a pioneer in the field of sophisticated voter engagement, and its mobile campaign tools are among the first that appeared on the market. Observed data about voters, such as their political views on specific issues, can be a powerful tool for political campaigns, and the analytic tools developed by NGP VAN can help political campaigns contact and better target voters.

The company’s convenient MiniVAN smartphone app can help campaign volunteers with the data entry aspect of door-to-door canvassing. Anyone who owns a smartphone can download the MiniVAN app, which enables canvassers to enter voter data directly into the app rather than relying on traditional paper methods of canvassing. Additionally, the MiniVAN app can collect contributions for nonprofit organizations.

MiniVAN recently added a new tool called “Street Team Canvassing” which enables campaign field organizers and volunteers to collect new names and contact information from voters at political rallies. This means that progressive and Democratic political campaigns and other organizations seeking to build their user or voter base can easily use the MiniVAN app to collect protest participants' info at large events such like the DC Women’s March or the March for Science.

Amanda Coulombe, NGP VAN’s general manager of organizing, calls the "Street Team Canvassing" function of MiniVAN “a tool for the resistance.” Another tool called “Social Advocacy” will allow groups to mobilize people via social media to pressure leaders on websites such as Facebook and Twitter.

MiniVAN helps collect information quickly, and with the addition of the “Social Advocacy” tool, organizations can effectively mobilize their voter base and encourage Democratic activism, an essential ability for the progressive “Resistance” in the Trump era. Text messaging, social media, and targeted advertisements may make the difference for Democrats in the 2018 elections, and NGP VAN seems to have it all covered.

NGP VAN’s inclusive software helps target the LGBTQ Vote

As an organization that helps aid progressive campaigns, NGP VAN has recognized the importance of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) vote and has recently integrated inclusive properties into their software to be more LGBTQ friendly.

While many software companies continue to use binary gender labels for their demographic data, NGP VAN has recently incorporated the use of non-binary gender pronouns in voters’ contact records. Thanks to this change, NGP VAN donors, supporters, and volunteers can be addressed in the most accurate way.

Targeting LGBTQ voters is important for progressive Democratic campaigns because it is estimated that there are more than 10 million LGBTQ voters across the United States. These voters are located primarily in urban and suburban areas and are a key demographic for Democratic campaigns. In addition to enabling the targeting of the LGBTQ vote in progressive political campaigns, the change by NGP VAN also promotes a more inclusive view of gender.

NGP VAN employees collected goods to donate to local charities.

Staying true to progressive values, the women of NGP VAN participated in “Day Without a Woman”

This recent change by NGP VAN is part of a larger pattern of inclusiveness and compassionate values at the company. In addition to offering paid parental leave for both mothers and fathers, the company recently held a company-wide day without women this past month. On March 8, 2017, NGP VAN participated in the worldwide "Day Without A Woman."

The Day Without Women event at NGP VAN was part of the larger global movement organized by the DC Women’s March as a way to “act together for equity, justice, and the human rights of women and all gender-oppressed people, through a one-day demonstration of economic solidarity.”

The NGP VAN Day Without Women was meant to illustrate the importance of women at NGP VAN, who are described on the NGP VAN blog as “magic – they’re developers, engineers, designers, accountants, human resource professionals, sales & account managers, marketers, client services representatives, and data specialists.”

Instead of going to work as usual, the women of NGP VAN volunteered for local DC charities including Suited for Change, a company that provides professional clothing and workshops on career readiness to women in the DC region; Cavalry Women’s Services, an organization that empowers homeless women in DC; N Street Village, which describes itself as “a community of empowerment and recovery for women;” The Sojourner Center, which provides support for victims of domestic abuse; and Project Flow DC, which seeks to help those experiencing homelessness or an unstable housing situation.

Whether it’s by providing software support for the Resistance, mobilizing voters through the MiniVAN app, participating in the Day Without A Woman, or developing more inclusive software that promotes LGBTQ equality, NGP VAN is a company that stays true to its progressive roots.