The CoreCNX blog
Guides for campaigns, party organizations and nonprofits.
Plain-English articles about keeping track of the people you work with: candidates meeting committeepersons, county parties keeping precinct history, volunteers organizing the people they know, and organizations choosing a CRM (a shared database of your contacts and your history with them). 18 posts, in four topics.
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Guides
Two long guides cover the basics. The posts below each answer one question in more depth.
/01 · 3 posts
Candidates
For people running for office in Illinois: when a campaign committee is required, and how to meet and keep track of the committeepersons in your district.
The political campaign software guide →
Meeting the Committeepersons in Your District as a Candidate
A step-by-step plan for Illinois candidates to find, meet and follow up with the precinct, ward and township committeepersons in their district. Oct 3, 2026
Why Candidates Court Committeepersons, and How to Track Them
Illinois committeepersons cast weighted votes, shape party slating and know their precincts. Candidates should track each conversation and commitment. Oct 3, 2026
Do You Need a Campaign Committee in Illinois?
Illinois local candidates generally must form a committee after raising or spending over $5,000 in 12 months. Learn what counts and when the D-1 is due. Oct 3, 2026/02 · 6 posts
Party organizations
For county, township and ward organizations and referendum committees: slating, precinct records, sub-accounts, and what happens when a committeeperson moves.
The political campaign software guide →
What Is a Precinct? Illinois Precincts Explained
A precinct is the smallest area an election is run in. How Illinois draws precincts, what a committeeperson does, and how to find your precinct. Oct 21, 2026
County Party CRM: One System for Every Committeeperson
How an Illinois county party can give every committeeperson a precinct view in one contact database, and keep records when people change. Oct 3, 2026
How CoreCNX Supports Precinct Committeepersons
What an Illinois precinct committeeperson needs to remember about the people in a precinct, and how one CoreCNX record per person keeps it in one place. Oct 3, 2026
When a Committeeperson Moves: Keeping Precinct History
In Illinois, a committeeperson who moves out creates a vacancy at once. Why precinct history should belong to the party, with a handoff checklist. Oct 3, 2026
Slating: How Local Party Organizations Back Candidates
What slating is in Illinois, who decides it, how it connects to the weighted vote, and what a slated candidate still has to do to reach the ballot. Oct 3, 2026
CoreCNX for Referendum Coalitions and Party Organizations
How Illinois referendum committees and township or county parties can use CoreCNX to keep one record per person, with plans and worked examples. Oct 3, 2026/03 · 3 posts
Organizing
For campaigns and advocacy groups that work through volunteers: relational organizing, the ladder of engagement, and how to measure a canvass with contact rate.
The political campaign software guide →
What Is Relational Organizing? A Plain Guide
Relational organizing means volunteers reach the people they already know. How it works, how to run a program, and how to keep track of who knows whom. Oct 16, 2026
What Is a Ladder of Engagement? Steps and Examples
A ladder of engagement lists the steps a supporter takes, from a first sign-up to leading others. How to build one and track it with pipeline stages. Oct 16, 2026
What Is Contact Rate? Definition and How to Calculate It
Contact rate is the share of outreach attempts that reach a person. How to calculate it for doors and calls, what counts as a contact, and how to use it. Oct 16, 2026/04 · 6 posts
CRM basics
How one record per person works: keeping petitions, doors, texts and email together, how CoreCNX matches each event to a person, what a small organization or business needs from a CRM, and what campaign CRMs cost.
The unified contact timeline guide →
One Voter Record Across Petitions, Doors and Texts
Petition sheets, door results and text replies often end up in three spreadsheets. One record per voter helps with duplicates, consent and ownership. Oct 3, 2026
Why we built CoreCNX as the spine of the suite, not as four separate CRMs
Most all-in-one platforms keep a separate contact list for each product. CoreCNX keeps one contact record that every product in the suite writes to. Apr 22, 2026
What Is a Single Customer View? One Record per Customer
A single customer view puts everything you know about a customer on one record. What it includes, why it is hard to build, and how a small team gets one. Oct 16, 2026
Best CRM for Nonprofits: What a Small Organization Needs
What a nonprofit CRM is, how to choose the best CRM for a small nonprofit, what free plans leave out, and where CoreCNX fits. Oct 6, 2026
Best CRM for Political Campaigns: 9 Tools Compared
Nine CRMs political campaigns use, from NGP VAN and i360 to NationBuilder and CoreCNX, with who each serves, published prices and what to ask. Oct 21, 2026
NationBuilder, NGP VAN and i360 Pricing, Compared
NationBuilder, NGP VAN and i360 pricing as each vendor publishes it, checked October 16, 2026, beside CoreCNX's prices and what drives the cost. Oct 16, 2026Free trial
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