Supporting Hustle’s Clients in the Coronavirus Era
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Hustle stands in solidarity with our clients. In a time of sickness, mass quarantines, and economic uncertainty, our team is working diligently to ensure that the texting lines of communication stay open for critical conversations.
Last week, we announced a program to provide governments, health authorities, and NGOs who are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic with free use of Hustle. After just one week, we’ve seen dozens of organizations sign up to take advantage of our texting tools; if you are in touch with a federal, state, local, or tribal government or public health non-profit that needs to communicate with constituents regarding Covid-19, please help spread the word.
As all of our lives have been dramatically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, it should come as no surprise that conversations on Hustle have similarly become dominated by the topic. We thought it would be interesting to look at the specific trends in Hustle conversations.
As you can see from this chart, messages on Hustle mentioning the words “coronavirus” or “covid” now comprise nearly 25% of all the messages sent through our platform. What is interesting is how the trend has broken down by industry over the past few weeks.
The data shows that Labor unions sounded the alarm about coronavirus early on and loudly. Union workers in the health, food, education, and public sectors, among others, are on the front lines facing this virus. Getting the word out to members about workplace safety, closures, sick leave policies, and other critical issues has been an important use case of Hustle in these past few weeks. We want to extend our gratitude to these workers for putting their lives, and their families’ lives, at risk to serve our communities in these dangerous times.
Anecdotally, we’ve heard from clients that using Hustle in a time of confusion and solitude can bring a welcome personal touch, creating a human connection and providing the opportunity to answer follow-up questions. One of our newest clients, the Idaho State Dental Association, used Hustle to reach out to Idaho dentists who potentially needed information about quickly changing regulations regarding coronavirus, office safety and office closures.
Jessica Oliver, ISDA’s Membership and Marketing Manager, reported “I can’t tell you how many times I heard ‘Thank you for reaching out to me this way!’ It also gave many members an avenue to easily ask other questions they had or voice concerns that weren’t addressed yet so made for a very personal approach to a scary time.”
Asked about what advice she would give other organizations navigating communication during these difficult times, Oliver said: “People appreciate the personal touch and outreach. Think about how to ease your customers anxieties and reach them at where they are at. Be available and personal because that harvests cooperation and understanding.”
Hustle continues to serve our communities across the U.S. and Canada; if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out to nonprofit@hustle.com. We’re all in this together.
