3 Ways Nonprofits Change The World With Communication Tools

3 Ways Nonprofits Change The World With Communication Tools

Twilio.org aims to empower nonprofits with the tools they need to change the world for the better. This isn’t hyperbole. Whether it’s restoring democratic processes around the world, making sure disaster victims get the help they need, or helping fight human trafficking – Twilio.org customers are truly making a difference. A small but critical element in their work is communication. We’re humbled by their participation and inspired by their deeds.
 
As part of our appreciation, we’re partnering with Freshdesk to offer NGO’s 15% off of Freshdesk’s communications suite. Using Freshdesk, you can automate communication processes that typically cost NGO’s a ton of time (more about that here). Here are a few examples of nonprofits that saved themselves time and money by using communications tools effectively.

RedCross

Volunteers carry out 90% of the Red Cross’ humanitarian efforts. They comprise the lion’s share of the Red Cross’ workforce. When disaster strikes, they’re the first people on the ground helping victims.

The Red Cross’ dispatchers were making and receiving hundreds of calls – unnecessary calls. Dispatchers would call volunteers to confirm their assignment, their ETA, and their arrival. All of this could be done at once, programmatically, via text. Jim McGowan and John Laxson built an open sourced dispatch system, DCSOps, that saves dispatchers tremendous time and hassle, allowing them to communicate with volunteers via Twilio SMS.

“We want our dispatchers to be able to focus on conversations with the fire departments and volunteers so they can serve people who need help,” said Jim McGowan.

Read more about the Red Cross here.

The Carter Center

Election observers ditched the pens, paper and data entry teams in favor of SMS. Now, the Carter Center’s staff can report if proper process is being followed during elections via text.

Learn more about The Carter Center here.

Building Beats

Learning to play an instrument teaches you more than just how to play a song. Building Beats uses music education as a means to teach kids about entrepreneurship and tech. If you didn’t know better, you’d think that Building Beats is just showing underserved kids an awesome time, teaching them how to DJ. But Building Beat’s Technology Lead Angel Martinez says, “Much like software development, making music demands rigor, discipline, and attention to detail. Both also demand a lot of creativity and problem-solving.

As part of the Twilio.org campaign, Building Beats can coordinate their network of professional DJ’s and music professionals who voluenteer their time to educate youngsters. All it takes is the press of a button to send out scheduling text messages to the volunteers.

See what the team at Building Beats is up to here.  

Learn how Twilio is empowering nonprofits to send a billion messages for good at Twilio.org.