Solar Campaign Google Guide This guide assumes your team has already retrieved its template Solar Campaign folder from Vital Communities and shared it with the entire volunteer team on Google Drive. To request a template Solar Campaign Folder and receive instructions for initial set up and team sharing, email solarizetoolkit@gmail.com. Table of Contents Part 1: GOOGLE DRIVE Visit vitalcommunities.org/energy/solarizetoolkit-google for accompanying how-to videos A. Create a Google Account B. Log in to Google Drive C. Navigating Google Drive (and locating your shared files) D. Navigating your Solar Campaign Folder E. Adding new files to Google Drive F. Downloading files from Google Drive G. Editing files in Google Drive Part 2: PEOPLE TRACKER I. How Site Visit Requests Are Handled II. People Tracker At a Glance III. Adding Information to the People Tracker IV. Sending an Email to the People Tracker list V. Searching the People Tracker VI. Sorting the People Tracker A. Create a Google Account (VIDEO TUTORIAL: Google Account Set Up ) PART 1 Google Drive Do you already have an @Gmail.com email address? If YES, skip to part B. If NO, follow these instructions to set up a Google account linked to your existing email address. 1. Go to Google.com 2. Click the blue "sign in" button in the upper right corner of your screen 3. Look for the "Create an account" link below the sign-in button 4. You can create a Google account using your existing email address. Click the link for this option just below the email address column 5. Google will walk you through the rest once you've entered your information If you connect your new Google account to your existing email, you'll receive emails to your existing account when Google needs to alert you to something (won t happen very often once you re set up).
B. Log In to Google Drive (VIDEO TUTORIAL: Google Drive Intro ) 1. Go to Drive.Google.com 2. If prompted, enter your Google account login information If you have an @Gmail.com address, enter your Gmail login If you have linked your non-gmail email to Google, enter the login information you gave Google when you set up that linked account 3. You should be taken to the Google Drive home screen (see part C) C. Navigating Google Drive (and locating your shared files) (VIDEO TUTORIAL: Google Drive Intro ) To locate your solar campaign folder, including your site visit request form and People Tracker, click Shared with me in the left-hand menu. Once inside Shared with me, you should see your solar campaign folder in the list. Double click to open it. If you don t see the folder right away, scroll down to be sure you ve seen the whole list If you still don t see your Solar Campaign folder, ask your fellow volunteers for help D. Navigating your Solar Campaign Folder (VIDEO TUTORIAL: Google Drive Intro ) Your shared solar campaign folder comes pre-populated with three resources: People Tracker (spreadsheet): Your campaign contact list. You can add and sort names in this online spreadsheet your volunteer and installer team shares and edits together. This contact list will include everyone from people who just want email updates to people who go solar through the campaign.
Site Visit Request Form (form): Online form that interested community members can complete to request a site visit from your partner installer. When a person submits a site visit request, their response will automatically be added to your People Tracker so you and your partner installer can follow up. Include links to this form on your website and in online outreach. Volunteer Team Contact List (spreadsheet): In case you need each other's contact information. Click on the column headers to sort by Name, Owner, Last Modified, etc. Double click on any item in the list to open it. E. Adding New Files to Google Drive (VIDEO TUTORIAL: Google Drive Add, Download, and Edit Files ) You can use Google Drive to share documents, such as installer proposals and campaign outreach materials, among your team. In your campaign folder, click the red NEW button to the left. Follow the instructions. The new file will automatically be visible to everyone else who has access to the folder. F. Downloading Files from Google Drive (VIDEO TUTORIAL: Google Drive Add, Download, and Edit Files ) Right click on the file you d like to download and select Download from the menu of options. Follow the instructions. G. Editing Files in Google Drive (VIDEO TUTORIAL: Google Drive Add, Download, and Edit Files ) If the file is a Google Doc or a Google Spreadsheet, you will be able to edit it as you would a Word doc or an Excel spreadsheet on your own computer. Simply open the file and begin editing. Google saves all changes as you go. It is possible to see your revision history look for that option in the File menu.
PART 2 People Tracker I. How Site Visit Requests are Handled (VIDEO TUTORIAL: People Tracker Basic Navigation and Set Up ) There are three ways for a resident to request a site visit from your solar campaign partner installer: 1) Online Form: Your Site Visit Request Form automatically adds all site visit requests to your People Tracker, where you and your partner installer can access them any time. 2) Resident Contacts the Installer Directly These contacts should be manually added to your People Tracker by your partner installer. 3) Resident Provides Contact Information to Volunteer and Asks for a Site Visit Volunteers should plan on collecting site visit requests in person at campaign tables and events. Either have the person complete a request form or collect their name, email, phone, and address some other way. Add these contacts to your People Tracker and note the date of their request so your installer knows to follow up.
II. People Tracker At a Glance (VIDEO TUTORIAL: People Tracker Basic Navigation and Set Up ) Summary of current totals (# of site visit requests, signed contracts, total kw, etc.) If anyone else is also viewing the People Tracker at any given moment, they will appear here. Hover over the icon to see their full name. GREEN area: Contact Information BLUE area: Information about where they are at in the process (everything up to actually signing a contract) ORANGE area: Information about what happened in the end: - Signed contract? - System size? RED area: Not going solar Notes (e.g. this person wants more info on community solar) III. Adding Information to the People Tracker (VIDEO TUTORIAL: People Tracker Add and Edit Information ) The People Tracker is just a basic spreadsheet. If you ve ever used Microsoft Excel, you already know how to add and change information in the People Tracker. To change content in a cell, click in the cell and start typing To add a row, click on the row number on the left-hand side of the page and right click. Select insert row To delete a row, same as above but select delete row
IV. Sending an Email to the People Tracker List (VIDEO TUTORIAL: People Tracker Send Emails ) 1. Select the top cell within the email column 2. Scroll down to the bottom of the list 3. While holding the SHIFT key, select the bottom cell within the email column 4. Copy the selected cells Press the CTRL and C keys together OR right click and select COPY from the options 5. Open a new email in your email inbox and find the BCC: line (any addresses copied in the BCC: line will be invisible to all others who receive the email this is an important privacy measure) 6. Paste the emails into the BCC: line Press the CTRL and V keys together OR right click and select PASTE from the options V. Searching the People Tracker (VIDEO TUTORIAL: People Tracker Search, Sort, and Filter ) At any point when you have the People Tracker open, you can press the CTRL and F keys together to bring up a search panel. Type what you are looking for and you ll see matches highlighted in green. Click the arrows next to the search box to navigate between matches.
VI. Sorting the People Tracker (VIDEO TUTORIAL: People Tracker Search, Sort, and Filter ) The People Tracker is set up to let you sort your contact list in almost any way. Just ALWAYS REMEMBER to set the People Tracker back to normal before you close out. Most likely, you ll be doing one of two things: 1. Sorting any column alphabetically or numerically 2. Setting a filter to view only those contacts that meet a certain criteria (e.g. live in a certain town) Instructions for SORTING alphabetically: 1. Select the ENTIRE column you want to sort by (e.g. Column B: Last Name ) 2. Click the little arrow to the right of the column letter a menu should appear 3. Select Sort Sheet A-Z or Sort Sheet Z-A Click here to reveal menu Click here to select entire column Instructions for SETTING A FILTER to view only certain contacts: 1. Choose the column you want to sort by (e.g. Town ) 2. Click the little arrow to the right of the Town header 3. Use the checkboxes and the select all and clear buttons to select only the entries you are interested in seeing (e.g. select only Zooville to see residents from that town only) Click OK, and the spreadsheet will automatically adjust to only show you a list of contacts who meet your criteria. You can copy these email addresses as described above and send an email only to those residents. When you re done, click the little arrow again and click select all and then OK to return the spreadsheet to normal. (See next page for image)
Click here to reveal menu Don t try to sort the column using these buttons you will get an error message. Use above instructions instead. Check or uncheck boxes to set a filter