If you’re interested in networking with other customer experience leaders, sharing your expertise in the area of CX and transforming government services, here’s our recommendations for events you don't want to miss.
The Census is designed to count every resident in the United States, and it does so every ten years. The data collected is used to distribute over a trillion dollars in federal funds to states and localities for programs residents rely on, such as Medicaid, Medicare, and Head Start, and services such as hospitals, roads, and parks.
At CCL, we’ve been utilizing social media platforms to increase vaccination rates in Latino families based in San Mateo County, California. We’ve recently analyzed a bilingual ad campaign on Facebook and Instagram using three distinct messaging approaches, single-image ads and video content.
At CCL, we’ve been utilizing social media platforms to increase vaccination rates in Latino families based in San Mateo County, California. We’ve recently analyzed an ad campaign on Facebook and Instagram that featured single-image ads with three distinct messaging approaches.
Vaccination engagement tactics are shifting across the US to in-person, door-to-door canvassing. The pros? Meeting people where they’re at.The ability to have a face-to-face conversation. Efficiently targeting specific geographic neighborhoods, a tactic that mimics how disease is spread.
Reports on state vaccine incentive programs are showing mixed results, with many citing dwindling rates of vaccination. It’s difficult to draw conclusions because vaccination rates have continued a steady decline nationally since April 2021’s significant uptick, which occurred due to ample supply and increased eligibility for most Americans.
The twice-as-transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 poses a unique threat… to unvaccinated populations. Good news: reports indicate that vaccines being distributed in the US are effective against the highly-transmissible Delta variant (Source: LA Times).
Vaccine incentives have been powerful drivers of vaccination rates around the country since the state of Ohio made the news with their Vax-a-Million campaign in mid-May. Behavioral Economist, Katy Milkman, explains that the success of vaccine lotteries boils down to two key components: heavy media coverage and individuals believing their odds of winning are higher than the reality.
President Biden announced a "National Month of Action" in vaccination efforts and sponsors are lining up to offer incentives to reach the goal of 70% vaccination. Incentives range in value, from state lotteries offering $1M prizes to… free beer?
Flu vaccination rates are 3 million/day. Make COVID vaccinations as convenient as flu vaccinations. People have unpredictable schedules with childcare, work, and community responsibilities. Be where people are. Meet people where they are in terms of convenient locations and timing.
CommunityConnect Labs CensusOutreach solutions were recently highlighted in Twilio's Customer Stories. We are proud to be powered by Twilio in our SMS-based outreach to count hard-to-reach communities in the Census, ensuring fair representation and millions of dollars in public funding for the next 10 years.
In this unprecedented election year, voters are hungry for updated information from election agencies like never before. SMS and text messaging outreach can be an effective method of educating, motivating, and activating people to vote.
With 2020 Census invitations beginning to hit mailboxes on March 12, we can expect an increase in the amount of mis/disinformation circulating. Helping drive home the importance of the Census and its impacts will help encourage people to continue to participate, but actively and effectively combating mis/disinformation is also important.
Get Ready: Census Letters Hit Mailboxes Nationwide Starting March 12th – With fewer than 20 days until Census Day on April 1, we are counting down with a timeline of outreach recommendations for governments, community-based organizations, and individuals.
With the 2020 Census only days away, there’s a lot of information available for individuals and organizations doing the critical work of effectively reaching hard to count communities. Here’s a list of some of those sites to get you started.
As we celebrate Christmas and welcome the New Year, it’s important to remind our communities about the relevance of the upcoming Census. The nonprofit Faith in Public Life (FPL) knows this, and that’s why they released the 2020 Census Christmas toolkit. It includes graphics that you or your organization can use for social media, as well as sample posts and emails.
CommunityConnect Labs' Census Outreach Project was recently featured as Amazon Web Service's re:Invent Conference. Watch this short video highlighting our work to help get 575,000 people counted in Census 2020.
With the 2020 Census approaching, it is important to engage individuals of all ages to get counted. On October 29th, Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ) hosted a webinar on how college students, organizations, and staff can get involved to ensure that college students are counted in the 2020 Census. If you weren’t able to attend, here are some key takeaways.
As 2019 draws to a close and Census Day rapidly approaches, people will begin to hear about the Census in ads, marketing materials, and social media. You can use this publicity to gain momentum and get constituents interested in and excited about the Census.
SMS texting can be a great option to reach constituents for a number of reasons. In order to make it effective, it’s critically important that best practices are followed for a long-lasting relationship between local government and its constituents.
Due to all of the uncertainty around Public Charge and the new proposed rule, the Grove Foundation hosted the Public Charge Community Forum on October 31st to discuss new developments and showcase new Public Charge screening tools developed by CommunityConnect Labs and Immigration Advocates Network.
In May, researchers estimated that $880 billion dollars in federal funding was at stake if there was an undercounting in the 2020 Census. After digging in even deeper, a new total has surfaced, emphasizing the importance of achieving a complete and accurate count. According to researchers, there is now $1.5 trillion at stake.
CommunityConnect Labs (CCL), a California-based nonprofit that develops high-quality, affordable mobile text messaging solutions that enable state and local governments and other service providers to reach low-income and other hard-to-engage individuals, successfully launched its Community Motivator solution with partner organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area and Hawaii with the aim of increasing 2020 Census participation
Millions of questions about the Census were asked in 2010, and even more are expected in 2020. However, local government and library staff don’t have the resources to address the volume and variety of questions or language needs of their constituents. To address the critical need to help constituents get their questions answered, CommunityConnect Labs developed the Question & Answer HelpDesk, an automated question & answer system available via text and web chat that can receive and answer users’ Census questions in multiple languages.
With the 2020 Census less than six months away, organizers are trying to reach as many of their constituents as possible. In order to scale their outreach efforts, the United Way Bay Area (UWBA), the ACBO for California’s Region 3, has incorporated CommunityConnect Labs’ Community Motivator solution.
Only 181 days remain until Census Day 2020. On Sept. 26, representatives from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, along with Region 3 ACBO United Way Bay Area and Mercury Public Affairs, the state’s Census media partner, convened to discuss how they would leverage the remaining 181 days before the Census to enact effective and efficient implementation plans. From inspirational talks about the importance of the Census to texting pledges, the implementation workshop was not to be missed for organizers in the region.
With the 2020 Census around the corner, local governments have a very important job: to ensure that all of their constituents get counted! Engaging Local Government Leaders interviewed Perla Ni, CEO and founder of the Census Outreach Project, to discuss how local governments can get the job done.
We’re celebrating Hispanic Heritage month by outlining a few ideas that will help ensure that the entire Hispanic community is counted in the 2020 Census. Governments, community-based organizations, and individuals can remind the Hispanic community that they are valued, and deserve to be counted.
Last month we blogged about the importance of creating your strategic plan for Census outreach. This month, let’s focus on your volunteers. From your strategic plan, you should have an idea about how many people you plan to help complete the Census in your community.
From petitions to save the environment to driving awareness of politics and voting, campaigns commonly include “pledging” as a tactic to drive support of their cause. But does publicly pledging to something really change behavior? Research indicates that it does, which is why we’re helping governments and CBOs drive their constituents to Pledge to be Counted in the 2020 Census.
As changes to the public charge policy were announced in mid-August, organizations have been developing efforts to combat the new rule. The Legal Aid Society of San Mateo has created their own projects and has also partnered with CommunityConnect Labs to develop a solution to help vulnerable communities affected by the changes.
“If you participating in the Census wasn’t that important, why are they trying to take it away from you?” asked Alex Padilla as he spoke at the Joint Informational Hearing on Aug. 21, 2019. As part of the state of California’s commitment to stewarding state taxpayer funds that have been allocated for Census outreach, this hearing was convened to discuss statewide outreach strategies for the 2020 Census, as well as inform the public about how these efforts will reach hard-to-count communities in California. It also provided stakeholders the opportunity to comment and ask questions of the parties responsible for executing these efforts.
In order to avoid losing political representation and federal funds, many counties within California are developing outreach and communication campaigns so that an undercount does not occur. San Francisco, one of the hardest to count counties nationwide, has committed itself to minimizing barriers of participation and to making sure that everyone is counted.
Census Day 2020 is still months away, but the time to start ramping up Census outreach is now. With kids heading back to school and the holiday season just around the corner, there are numerous opportunities to get your community engaged and activated.
The definition of “public charge” has been very narrow, so the government had rarely denied applications based on those grounds.2 However, on Aug. 12, 2019, the Trump administration announced a new rule that will modify “public charge” policies and will go into full effect 60 days from Aug. 14, 2019.
La definición de "carga pública” ha sido muy limitada, por lo cual el gobierno rara vez había negado las solicitudes basadas en esos motivos. Sin embargo, el 12 de agosto de 2019, la Administración Trump anunció una nueva regla que modificará las políticas de "carga pública” y entrará en efecto 60 días a partir del 14 de agosto de 2019.
As we get closer to Census Day on April 1, 2020, we’ll be counting down the months with a timeline of outreach recommendations for governments, community-based organizations, and individuals. CCL staff attend many of the Complete Count Committee meetings that are happening all over the nation, and we thought it would be helpful to share some of the insights that we’ve collected to better help your outreach efforts.
It’s a challenge for government and civic engagement organizations to move constituents from thinking about civic participation to action. This challenge is particularly pronounced in Get Out the Count (GOTC) efforts for the 2020 Census.
On June 29, 2019 the Supreme Court announced their decision to stop the citizenship question from appearing on the 2020 Census. So, does this mean that Census outreach efforts are done? No. Instead, this is a crucial time for outreach efforts to be implemented.
Governments can lead the way in showing how data collection is used to benefit residents and delivering improved services. CommunityConnect Labs presented examples of its local city surveys and Census solutions at The Opportunity Project’s (TOP) Demo Day at the U.S. Census Bureau this past March.
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) are refundable tax credits for low- to moderate-income working individuals and couples, particularly those with families. Many people who qualify for EITC and CalEITC do not know about the credits, that they qualify, or how to claim the credit, whether or not they are required to file their taxes.
States will play an important role in helping to promote an accurate 2020 Census, but they can’t do it alone. Achieving a fair and accurate 2020 Census will require states to invest in community-based organizations (CBOs) as partners to ensure that trusted voices in local communities reach skeptical people about why it is important to fill out the census form.
A study published last week by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that hard-to-count populations prefer text messaging and cell phone notifications over other methods of follow-up contact. This represents an important breakthrough in how best to activate hard-to-count communities to self-respond in the 2020 Census.
Community-sourced data and use of technology by local governments has helped make the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) a success in California. A recently-released study reviewing California’s Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) shows how canvassing by community-based organizations helped protect $455 million in federal funding that would otherwise have been lost in an undercount.
We asked census veterans working across the country — from New York City to Minnesota to the Silicon Valley — on how to put together a great Complete Count Committee. Complete Count Committees (CCCs) are volunteer bodies assembled at the city, county, and state level that help with census local outreach and ensuring everyone is counted. Below are some words-of-wisdom for setting your committee up for success!
The State of California just released its RFP for CBOs to apply to become regional ACBOs for the 2020 Census! ACBOs will be responsible for regranting over $30 million in state funding to community partners in their region. Read our summary to learn how your organization can apply to become an ACBO.
The 2018 election saw the highest turnout for midterms in more than a century. Much of this participation can be attributed to the innovative ways in which cities, counties, and states motivated their constituents to vote. San Jose modeled this kind of innovation through its partnership with CommunityConnect Labs and Pokémon GO. In an effort to verify and increase voter registration for the 2018 midterms, the three entities collaborated this past Halloween to launch “Pokémon GO Vote.”
The State of California has just published its Census Allocation Plan. The funds will support strategies and activities that will help ensure an accurate and successful count in California. Read our summary to learn how much your county will receive and the criteria for applying to become an ACBO.
Sourcing and recruiting high-quality field staff is a strategic way to use precious grant dollars to ensure an accurate count. Door-to-door enumeration will account for up to 40 percent of America’s households in the 2020 Census, nearly 50 percent more than in 2010. The Census needs to hire, train and deploy nearly half a million enumerators — about the same number as the entire US retail sector hires during the holiday season — to knock on doors across the country. The Census Bureau is asking local nonprofits and community-based organizations for help in sourcing those candidates, especially from hard-to-count areas.
The Census Bureau uses a Master Address File (MAF) to distribute self-response forms and identify which residences require enumerator follow-up for the decennial census. If an address is left off the Census’ MAF, residents within that unit will go undercounted. In hard-to-count communities, as many as 2-3% addresses may be missing from the Census’ MAF. Due to budget cuts, the US Census Bureau will have fewer resources and staff to perform on-the-ground, address canvassing, which helps ensure the accuracy of its MAF. Cities and counties had the opportunity to contribute to an accurate MAF earlier this year by performing their own, local address canvassing, a process known as the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA).
