How to Create and Manage Turfs

Turfs are geographic territories where your volunteers will canvass. Well-designed turfs make canvassing efficient and ensure complete coverage of your target voters.

The Turf Manager with territories displayed on the map

What you'll need

• Admin or Manager role on the campaign

• Voter data with addresses loaded

• Knowledge of your district geography

Creating a Turf

Open Turf Manager

Go to Field → Turfs in the sidebar. You'll see a map of your district.

Start Drawing

Click Create Turf, then click on the map to place boundary points. Click each corner of your desired area.

Double-click or click the first point again to close the shape.

Name Your Turf

Give the turf a clear, memorable name. Good naming conventions:

• Neighborhood name (e.g., "Downtown East")

• Street boundaries (e.g., "Main to Oak, 1st to 5th")

• Precinct number (e.g., "Precinct 23")

Set Turf Details

Configure additional settings:

• Priority - High, Medium, or Low (affects assignment order)

• Target Universe - Which voters to include in walk lists

• Notes - Parking tips, safety notes, access codes

Draw turf boundaries directly on the map and configure details

Ideal Turf Size

A good turf has 50-100 target doors and can be walked in 2-3 hours. Too big = volunteer fatigue. Too small = inefficient.

Turf Design Best Practices

Natural Boundaries

Use features that are easy to identify:

• Major streets

• Rivers or parks

• Railroad tracks

• Neighborhood boundaries

Door Density

Consider how dense the housing is:

• Apartments - Smaller geographic area, many doors

• Suburban - Medium area, medium density

• Rural - Large area, spread out doors (may need driving)

Safety

Avoid turfs that:

• Require crossing dangerous roads

• Have poor lighting for evening canvasses

• Lack safe parking

Managing Existing Turfs

Editing Turfs

Click on any turf to:

• Adjust boundaries (drag corner points)

• Update name and details

• Change priority level

• View canvass history

Turf Coverage

The map shows coverage status:

• Green - Fully canvassed recently

• Yellow - Partially canvassed

• Red - Not yet canvassed or overdue

Deleting Turfs

To remove a turf, click Delete in the turf details panel. Historical data is preserved but the territory is removed from active rotation.

Avoid Overlapping Turfs

Overlapping turfs cause confusion and duplicate contacts. If you need to adjust boundaries, edit existing turfs rather than creating new ones.

Coverage status helps you identify which turfs need attention

Next Steps

• How to Schedule Canvass Shifts

• How to Create Walk Lists

• Aligning Turfs with Your Win Strategy