Understanding Contact Fields
Pulsar contacts have many fields to store supporter information. This guide explains each field type and how to use them effectively.
A contact record showing standard fields
Standard Contact Fields
Every contact in Pulsar has access to these built-in fields:
Basic Information
Field
Description
Required
First Name
Contact's given name
Yes
Last Name
Contact's family name
Yes
Primary email address
For email campaigns
Phone
Mobile or home phone
For SMS/calls
Address Information
Field
Description
Street Address
Street number and name
Address Line 2
Apartment, suite, unit number
City
City or town
State
State or province
ZIP Code
Postal code (5 or 9 digit)
Political Information
These fields are populated when matching against voter files:
• Party Affiliation - Registered party (Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc.)
• Voter Status - Active, Inactive, or Unregistered
• Precinct - Voting precinct assignment
• District - Electoral district for your race
• Vote History - Past election participation
Engagement Fields
Automatically tracked by Pulsar:
• Support Level - 1 (Strong Support) to 5 (Strong Oppose)
• Volunteer Status - Whether they've signed up to volunteer
• Donor Status - Whether they've made a donation
• Last Contact Date - When they were last reached
• Contact Method - How they were last contacted
Political and engagement fields on a contact record
Support Level Scale
• 1 - Strong Support (definite voter)
• 2 - Lean Support (likely voter)
• 3 - Undecided
• 4 - Lean Oppose
• 5 - Strong Oppose
Custom Fields
Create custom fields to track campaign-specific information:
Access Field Settings
Go to Settings → Contact Fields.
Add New Field
Click Add Custom Field and choose a field type:
• Text - Free-form text input
• Number - Numeric values
• Date - Date picker
• Dropdown - Select from predefined options
• Checkbox - Yes/No values
Create custom fields to track campaign-specific data
Common Custom Fields
Popular custom fields include: Issue Priority, Yard Sign Requested, Event RSVP, and Preferred Contact Time.
Troubleshooting
Field not appearing
Custom fields may need to be added to your contact form views. Go to Settings → Contact Views to configure visible fields.
Data not saving
Ensure you have edit permissions for contacts. Only Admins and Managers can modify contact data.
Next Steps
• Search and Filter Contacts
• Organize with Tags