NOW is the Time for Behavioral Messaging
Recently, this article made its rounds about the 68 percent of those in poverty who are eligible for welfare but don’t enroll and how behavioral messaging is critical to turning this tide. But it is also important to note that the medium is just as critical as the message. And the medium of text messaging has power. As the co-founder of mRelief, a nonprofit with text messaging at the core of our technology, I wanted to take some time this week to share why text messaging combined with behavioral messaging is so important.
Recent scholarship out of the Office of Administration of Children and Families, “The Power of Prompts” showed how text messaging was used to increase participation in aspects of the Paycheck Plus program. This program involves an earnings supplement program in which participants had previously enrolled. Participation in the form of attendance at meetings gave clients an opportunity to review the program requirements and the incentives for work.
The study found that behavioral messaging led to a significant and quite large increase in the percentage of participants who attended the meeting. However, sending text messages in addition to postcards was more effective than sending postcards only. Check out the data below:
In the end, message is key. But the medium — and in this case, text messaging, is critical.
Learn more about our work at www.mrelief.com.
If you live in Chicago, learn more about behavioral messaging tonight at Unleashing Children’s Potential: The Power of Innovative Policy here.
