Running! is a Teen Vogue series about getting involved in government. In this op-ed, Katie Longo, field director for Elizabeth Fiedler’s campaign for state representative in Pennsylvania’s 184th House District, South Philadelphia, explains the purpose of the field director’s role.

Right now a lot of us are looking for ways to get involved in politics. But what does that look like for people who don’t or can’t run for office? A campaign field office is one place you can find that answer.

If you’ve ever volunteered for a campaign and gone door-to-door to talk to voters about a candidate, you’ve interacted with the field office. In order to be successful, a campaign has to find people who are likely to support the candidate, inform them of the race, persuade them to support her, and finally turn them out to vote on Election Day.

That’s what I help accomplish. My goal as a field director is to identify, persuade, and motivate voters to support the candidate I work for, Elizabeth Fiedler, who is running for state representative in Philadelphia. Direct face-to-face contact is the most effective way to accomplish these tasks, which is why door-knocking, what we call “canvassing,” is so important. But campaigns also use phone calls, texts, and events to contact potential voters.

All of these tasks require volunteers, who I spend a lot of my time organizing. I make calls to recruit and confirm volunteers for upcoming shifts, and prepare the materials they will need to complete those shifts. Of course, I don’t do this on my own — I’m supported by a field organizer, who oversees a specific geographic region, and a team of “supervolunteers,” who assist with office tasks and help train and supervise other volunteers.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try, a political campaign and its team will never be able to talk to every potential voter in an area, or successfully convince everyone they talk to. Field directors have to come up with a smart field plan to maximize reach and impact. Figure out what goals will get your candidate where she needs to be to win, then bump them up as you, as field director, build volunteer capacity. These goals are usually based on past voter turnout and other newer factors like demographic shifts or the strength of issue-based organizing in the community. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time you run a political campaign, but be diligent and creative — things in the United States are still shaken up from the 2016 presidential election, so keep your eyes peeled for new trends in turnout as voter engagement is growing in many places.

Once you have the big-picture goals, a field director builds the universe for voter contact. The space nerd in me loves this term, but the “universe” here just means the groups of voters you reach out to with contact efforts. The size of the universe is determined by your overall turnout goals. The makeup of the universe should be comprised of a mix of people: those most likely to vote in your election and those most likely to already be aligned with your candidate. A simplified example would be, if your candidate is a Democrat in a state with closed primaries, your universe should be focused on currently registered Democrats.

The task of universe building may seem daunting, and data intensive (which it is), but I haven’t studied statistics since high school, and I haven’t had any issues in my role. There are programs to help with number crunching, so don’t be intimidated. Being a field director is a lot of responsibility: You are a senior staff member on the campaign, but there isn’t one set path you need to follow to get there. Fiedler’s campaign is my first time working as a paid staff member at all. Previously, my only field experience came from being a supervolunteer for a general election last year. Every campaign has its own expectations about previous experience. If you are considering working in field, give it a shot, reach out for support, and you’ll build skills quickly.