United Way of Salt Lake Engagement
Founded
1904
How we helped
Campaign strategy
Pre and post event communication
Subscriber engagement
Donor reporting
Text message alerts
Segment
Human Services
Size
Medium
$61,355
Dollars raised
4,240
Donors
Challenge
United Way of Salt Lake (UWSL) needed to enrich their relationship with their Young Leaders, a group of philanthropic young professionals committed to reducing poverty with a focus on educating and empowering youth. Traditional forms of communication didn’t seem to be resonating with the group and participation was lagging. This led them to look for a digital solution to mobilize the Young Leaders.
Solution
With the help of MobileCause, UWSL implemented a text subscription campaign targeted at young professionals. They were able to upload a list of cellphone numbers, verify the numbers, and send out a subscription campaign opt-in message. The subscription campaign allowed members of the Emerging Leaders to learn about events, learn about volunteer opportunities, and also sign-up to participate via shortlink in the text message. New members could opt-in at any time by sending a keyword to a 51555, and they too would be subscribed for the Young Leaders updates.
Impact
As expected, results followed. Text messaging allowed UWSL to interact with the group members through their preferred method of communication and thus improved engagement and participation. The response speed to volunteer and event sign-ups drastically increased, and the unsubscribe rate remained incredibly low at 4%. To date, United Way of Salt Lake has 2,025 subscribers and continues to maintain an active group of Young Leaders.

United Way of Salt Lake
Established in 1904 as the Salt Lake Charity Association, its original mission was to help the poor, discourage panhandling, and coordinate multiple programs. The historic “community chest” with a broad charitable mission has transformed into an agent for social change. Today, United Way of Salt Lake is pursuing lasting social change on some of the toughest challenges we face, including poverty, poor health and lagging educational achievement. To donate to this cause, click here.