You can have the perfect pitch, the best candidate, and a motivated team, but if you're knocking at the wrong time, you're wasting everyone's effort. I've seen campaigns burn through hundreds of volunteer hours because they stuck to a canvassing schedule that made sense on paper but ignored how actual people live their lives.
Timing isn't just important. It's everything. And the data backs this up in ways that might surprise you.
The Sweet Spot: Tuesday Through Thursday Evening
Here's what thousands of door-knocking interactions have taught us: if you can only canvass three days a week, make it Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday between 6:00 and 8:00 PM.
Why these nights? People have found their rhythm by Tuesday. The chaos of Monday's transition back to work has settled. They're home from their jobs but haven't collapsed into full evening mode yet. Families are often together during this window, which means you might catch multiple voters in one stop.
And here's the thing nobody talks about: there's less competition for their attention midweek. Weekend plans, sports practices, social commitments—those mostly happen on other days.
Weekends Require a Different Strategy
Saturday mornings from 10:00 AM to noon work incredibly well, but for specific groups. Retirees are up, caffeinated, and often happy for company. Families with school-age kids are done with the morning rush but haven't left for activities yet. And shift workers who aren't available during typical evening hours are finally home.
Sunday afternoons between 2:00 and 5:00 PM can be productive, but tread carefully. Know your area. If you're canvassing a neighborhood with strong church attendance, wait until services are clearly over. Nothing tanks your candidate's reputation faster than interrupting someone's Sunday morning routine.
Adjust for the Seasons or Pay the Price
What works in July won't work in November, and ignoring this will cost you contacts.
Spring and Summer
Longer daylight means you can push your evening window to 6:30 or even 8:30 PM without it feeling invasive. Saturday mornings are gold before the heat kicks in. But avoid holiday weekends like Memorial Day or Fourth of July. People aren't thinking about local elections when they're firing up the grill.
Fall and Winter
Earlier starts are essential. By 7:30 PM it's dark and cold, and you're going to look suspicious lurking around neighborhoods. Saturday afternoons become more productive because people are actually home instead of at the park or pool. And for the love of all that's holy, have a weather backup plan. Nothing is more miserable than volunteers standing in sleet because nobody checked the forecast.
Three Timing Mistakes That Kill Your Numbers
❌ Before 5:00 PM Weekdays
People are commuting, dealing with after-school chaos, trying to get dinner started. Even if someone answers, they're stressed and distracted. That's not the mindset you want for a political conversation.
❌ After 8:00 PM
Makes you look inconsiderate at best, suspicious at worst. You're interrupting family time, evening shows, bedtime routines. Even if the voter is polite, they'll remember your candidate's volunteer showed up at an unreasonable hour.
❌ Ignoring Local Events
Check for high school football games, religious holidays, community festivals, and major TV events. Don't be the campaign that sends volunteers out during the Super Bowl to contact four people in three hours.
Let Data Do the Heavy Lifting
The campaigns that track their timing patterns consistently outperform the ones that don't. It's not even close.
Modern canvassing apps make this easy. You log what time you knocked, whether you got a conversation, and how receptive people were. After a few weeks, patterns emerge that you'd never spot otherwise.
The apps also help you spot neighborhood-specific quirks. Maybe one area has tons of healthcare workers who keep irregular hours. Another might be full of teachers who are home earlier than the typical commuter. Retiree communities operate on a completely different schedule than neighborhoods packed with young families.
Weather matters too. Light rain? People are more likely to be home. Gorgeous Saturday afternoon? They're at the park or running errands. Track it, and you'll start to see patterns.
Build Your Own Timing Strategy
3-Week Testing Phase
- Week 1: Send volunteers to different areas at different times. Track response rates, conversation quality, and external factors (soccer tournaments, weather, etc.)
- Weeks 2-3: Analyze your data. Look for patterns by time of day, day of week, and neighborhood type
- Ongoing: Adjust your standard schedule based on what actually works, not what you assumed would work
Keep tracking as you go. Seasons change, campaigns heat up, and voter availability shifts. The data you collect in September might not apply in October. Stay flexible.
The Quick Reference Guide
✅ Best Times to Knock
- Tuesday through Thursday, 6:00 to 8:00 PM
- Saturday morning, 10:00 AM to noon
- Sunday afternoon, 2:00 to 5:00 PM (know your area first)
⚠️ Times to Avoid
- Monday evenings (still recovering from weekend)
- Friday evenings (social plans dominate)
- Weekdays before 5:00 PM
- Any day after 8:00 PM
- During major local events
Weather Reality Check
- Light rain: People are home, but bring an umbrella and don't look miserable
- Beautiful weather: Competition from outdoor activities
- Extreme weather: Reschedule and prioritize volunteer safety
Here's What It Really Comes Down To
Good timing isn't about gaming the system. It's about showing respect for how people actually live. When you knock at a reasonable hour, when people have the mental space to engage, you're telling them that you understand their lives matter. That sets the tone for everything that follows.
Yes, these guidelines work as a starting point. But your specific district, your particular voter base, your unique neighborhoods—those all have their own rhythms. The only way to figure them out is to track your efforts and let the data guide you.
Multiply that across your whole team over weeks of canvassing, and you're talking about thousands of additional voter contacts.
Start Tracking Today
Even basic notes in your phone help. Write down what time you knocked, whether you connected, and how the conversation went. Do that for a couple weeks, look for patterns, and adjust.
Your volunteers will thank you for not sending them out at terrible times. Your voters will appreciate not being bothered during dinner. And your candidate will benefit from the dramatically better contact rates.
That's what smart timing gets you.