This document discusses using mobile engagement for community outreach. It provides examples of mobile campaigns including a citizen journalism texting program to report environmental issues, a texting campaign to educate fishermen on safe fish consumption, and a mobile app project where community members documented bike safety issues. The key benefits of mobile for engagement are that it is personal and ubiquitous. Tips provided include using interactive tools, multiple languages, and partnering with community groups and media.

1. Mobile Engagement
for Your Community
!
July 31, 2014
!
Amy Gahran
amy@gahran.com
@agahran

2. Amy Gahran
@agahran
amy@gahran.com
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6. What is engagement?
• Attract someone’s attention
• Involve people in interaction or
discussion
• Motivate amplification, action or
participation
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7. Who to engage?
• Communities
• Donors
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8. What is mobile? (Primarily)
• Cell phones (not
always smartphones)
• Texting (SMS)
• E-mail
• Mobile web
• Social media
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9. Smartphones: fastest consumer
adoption of any technology!
- Lee Rainie, Pew Research
!
(Me: Because mobile is
inherently engaging.)
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10. The future is here.
It just isn’t evenly distributed yet.
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11. Mobile is PERSONAL!
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12. Take out
your phones!
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13. See what I did there?
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14. Mobile mindset dare:
Use your phone
!
for EVERYTHING!
!
…for 1 week
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16. What mobile engagement
can look like…
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17. Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo
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Citizen journalism project that relies on you to report what’s
happening in your neighborhood.
!
Report specific environmental concerns through one of the
Grow 716 text campaigns, or tell us about other issues.
!
Follow your campaign to see what others are saying and
how those issues are being addressed.

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19. Catch of the Day campaign
• Missions: Environmental justice, public
health, educate at-risk populations
(sustenance fishers)
• Partner: Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper
• Mobile channels: Interactive texting, web
(fish consumption guide), photo messaging,
social media
• Other channels: On-location reps, print
version of guide in five languages
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20. Campaign launched at Family Fishing Day
at Broderick Park (6/29/13), continued
through September.
!
Anglers were encouraged to text COD to
877-877, which directed them to online info
about local fish consumption advisories
and healthier ways to eat local fish.
!
Anglers shared pictures of their catches on
the GROW 716 webpage.
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22. Result: Reached 1,000 people
who fish local waterways.
!
Plus: WSJ coverage
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23. LA County Bicycle Coalition
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24. • Campaign mission: Empower communities to
create safe walking and bicycling routes along
streets in 3 LA neighborhood
• Events: Bike rides, walks, community
workshops.
!
• Partners: LA DOT, LA County Public Health
Dept., TRUST South LA (grassroots community
group)
• Activities: Storytelling, spotting problems,
suggesting solutions
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25. Vojo.co: Active Streets LA
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27. Result:
!
236 stories
by 24 community members
in 1 day
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29. Uses Mobile Commons to text on
behalf of grantees
• Broadcast alerts: Issues (immigration reform,
etc.), events, workshops, deadlines, opportunities.
• Grantees. Made it a priority for grantees to get text
alert signups. Get people to sign up on the spot at
live events.
• Unique links in texts allow tracking across social
media, text forwarding via MC analytics
• Web portal: People can resubscribe if phone
number changes.
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30. What works
• Topical and/or time-focused campaigns
• Interactive (location, photo sharing)
• Solid SMS support service (Mobile Commons,
RedOxygen)
• Alongside: events, signage, in-person help,
online and print materials
• Multiple language support (perhaps call-in line)
• Expand engagement past initial campaign: next
steps
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31. Which of these examples
seem relevant
to your challenges?
!
Other examples you’ve seen?
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32. Tools
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33. What makes killer mobile
engagement?
!
ASK YOUR COMMUNITY!
(well, sorta...)
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34. Local Mobile Market Research
bit.ly/mobilelocalsurvey
• Short, easy to do: 8 questions
• Not demographics!
• Devices, access behavior
• Actionable info: Which mobile channels to
use first?
• 25-50 every 6-12 months
• Yes, mobile changes that fast
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35. Google Analytics mobile dashboard
bit.ly/GAmobiledash
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36. Mobile = Primary Use Case
!
ASSUME that MOST of your
audience/community is on
mobile devices, at least
sometimes.
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37. Mobile Commons: Use for
programs, grantees, donors
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38. Mobile Commons
• $2000-$4000/month. Some foundations get
it and use on behalf of grantees.
• NPR, CPB, APM, PRI also use it - partner!
• Text messaging: broadcast alerts,
interactive, custom reminders, etc.
• Mobile analytics
• Surveys, reports, quizzes
• Text-to-give
• Customer relationship management (CRM)
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39. Groundsource
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40. RedOxygen.com: Texting plans
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41. HUGELY POPULAR
on mobile!!!
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43. Text-to-give: Mgive study
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44. Vojo.co: Active Streets LA
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45. They are PHONES, after all
• Interactive voice response (IVR)
• 311-style call-in info lines
• Asterisk.org: free open-source software
• Twilio.com: Commercial platform with
large developer community. Voice as well
as text, video, e-mail services.
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46. Tips
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47. Is your website
mobile-friendly?
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48. Is your e-mail
newsletter
mobile-friendly?
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49. Campaigns & Events
• Tie mobile signups/campaigns to live
kickoff events
• Mention mobile at other live events in your
community, encourage on the spot signup
• Photo/video storytelling booth at your
events
• “Timeboxing" works to increase mobile
engagement: texting signups, etc.
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52. Partners
• Media: Public radio/TV often have Mobile
Commons access.
• Community/grassroots groups — good
outreach in-person or via live events.
• State, local county government. Especially
if they offer 311-style call-in info lines.
• Colleges & universities. Typically already
have text alert services set up.
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53. Speak their language
• Good mobile is mostly like good social media
• Hire someone who is already interacting well
with that community via social media
• Short, clear, direct.
• Simple sentences, bulleted lists, active verbs
• Invite their input, content — amplify and
respond
• Follow your community’s lead.
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54. Amy Gahran
@agahran
amy@gahran.com
54

55. EXTRA STUFF
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56. Catch of the Day campaign WSJ
coverage
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57. Western NY’s immigrant population, many of whom are
culturally connected to subsistence fishing, has grown
significantly over the past decade on the west side of
Buffalo.
!
The program seeks to educate low-literacy and at-risk
populations — including immigrants, particularly women
and children — about healthier ways to consume locally
caught fish.
!
Materials created for the program have been translated
into five languages to make fish consumption
information accessible for those whose first language is
not English.
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58. Kristen Kaszubowski, CFGB enviro
comms coordinator
• Immigrant anglers may not use social
media or the web, but they do text.
!
• Posted signs in places where local anglers
go, telling them they can text to see if the
fish they catch is safe to eat.
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• Response:
Where you are
fishing? Are you
planning to eat
the fish you catch
today?
• Then links to fish
consumption
guide. Or get one
mailed to your
home.

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61. • Asked anglers to submit a picture of fish.
Sport fisherman loved that -- increased
participation beyond immigrant sustenance
anglers
!
• Great social media content, increased
awareness (amplify)
!
• Told Riverkeeper where to deploy reps.
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62. LA Bicycles: Bryan Moller, Policy/Outreach
Coordinator
• Last weekend, we gathered a wide representation of community
members, and taught them how to use Vojo.
• Challenge: How would you want to change your street — sidewalks,
crossings, car speeds, etc. — to make it more bicycle friendly?
• Went on walk/ride, stopped frequently. Take a picture, upload to
Vojo, explain the problem, suggest solution. 236 postings by 24
community members.
• Upcoming: LA Bureau of street services engineer will come in,
review the stories, talk with community about what street treatments
could address. Public charette.
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63. • “Vojo is the starting point we use to get people
thinking about what the problems are on their
streets. Pictures highlights the need.”
• “It’s really quick and not hard to use. We had teens
and older people using it.”
• “Even if you don’t use it much, you get people to
think about what and where the problems are.
That’s the biggest gap — letting people know what
they should do and what they should know to solve
community problems, without a long winded
conversation.”
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