You'd be amazed at how effective canvassing is politically, when it comes to getting voters to the damned polls. However, it hugely depends on how well targeted it is. My canvassing runs were fairly well targeted, but I ran into some serious teabagger cranks that somehow still made the "D" voter rolls.

Going into so-called "independent" canvassing, I would NEVER do that without someone at my side. The first D canvassing wasn't all that awesome solo either -- I was sent straight into the (student) slums, and I didn't hang around there long, believe me. Got a few D voters registered, though it wasn't enough; my candidate lost that election. :P

Donations? Er...not as much as it used to be. People are just so saturated with sales pitches these days, I think they automatically reject them.