Technology Resources for Counties

Welcome to the County Resource Site

The Democratic Party of Oregon has put in place a number of technology initiatives that counties are encouraged to share in. This site is designed to provide counties with:

• Information about each of the services available.
• Necessary forms to gain access to each service.
• Support information and a support Forum.

The services are described below

1. Voter File Access. (VAN/VoteBuilder)
Accepting this permits the county to have a "committee" on the voter file and to provide access to its staff, volunteers, and organizers. It also allows the county to provide lists of voters to local candidates, or to request full VAN accounts for them.
The county party's voter file account is paid for by an in-kind contribution from the DPO, so there are no fees due.  However, the county must still agree to the license terms.

2. DonkeyList (GetActive/Convio/something else)
This is the activist list and bulk email system.
Every county gets one account on this system at no charge to record their officers, PCPs, DLs, SCC Delegates, etc. This system is the official list of party officers. This account cannot send emails.

Counties that wish to sign up to use this as their member management system, with bulk email, listserves, private groups, etc., can sign up for a "Center", at $165 per year. Several counties can share one center to reduce costs. There is no charge or limit on the emails sent, only the single annual fee.

3. Web Services (Drupal)
This is DPO hosting of the web server for the county. We have installed a powerful content management system called "Drupal". Each county that signs up for this service can run their web site on the DPO server and take advantage of DPO installation and management of the basic software. This also gives each participating county its own domain name, [countyname].oregondemocrats.org, to use for both the web and up to 3 forwarding email addresses. The cost for this is $50 for startup, and $100 per year. Additionally the DPO will manage other custom domains at cost if the county wishes, and can supply the county with a set of real email accounts if the county wishes.

4. On-Line Donations
This site has information about several ways county parties can take donations on-line.

5. Tech Team
Each county participating in ANY of the services should designate at least one person as a member of the "technology team". This is a group of people who will provide first level support and training on the systems in the county. Tech Team members will get accounts on each system with special privileges, and will be provided with some tools so they can support each other as well. This is the best way for us to build a support organization for local users.

How counties get access to the services.

To protect our investment, and to conform with various contracts and licenses that cover these services, each county needs to agree to a license agreement which is linked below, called the "County Technology Package".  It contains a one-sheet sign-up form that should be faxed back to the DPO. The other document below is a one-page "Individual Agreement" that counties can use with their own users if they wish them to sign an agreement.

1. Download the Package and review the Technology Services Agreement. Contact John Springer at DPO if you have questions or concerns.
2. Complete the County Access Agreement on the last page, indicating what services you want.
3. We will compute fees and email you a statement with the amount due. Fees are generally pro-rated by month (so if you sign up in June you pay for 6 months, not 12.)
4. Send completed document to the DPO (attn: John Springer).

You can add additional services at any time.