From the CBA Lab

CHALLENGE: Recruit more student mentors

A CBA client that focuses on educational and social equity and operates in cities that lack sufficient student coaching was searching for a way to recruit recent graduates as student mentors to serve in local schools across the US.

As mentors, these graduates would consider taking a “gap year” and embedding in local public schools to help increase graduation rates and boost academic and social-emotional achievement.

How did CBA help this nationwide organization efficiently engage a diverse audience in multiple US cities while tracking prospects by city?

SOLUTION: Utilize on-demand digital printing, advanced personalization, QR codes, MMS messaging, and conversion tracking

CBA acquired home addresses and mobile phone numbers for 50,000 potential mentors.

Prospects received three personalized postcards with location-specific logos, trackable QR codes (unique for each of the 50,000 prospects), and coordinated text messages featuring personalized trackable links.

Using specialized software, CBA tracked when each prospect scanned the QR codes or visited their personalized links and, more importantly, when they submitted an online form communicating their interest in becoming a student mentor.

RESULTS: Exceeded expectations!

INITIAL PROJECTIONS: Out of 50,000 prospects, 1% (500) would scan the QR code/visit personalized links, and 20% (100) would convert by submitting the online form.

There were two rounds of this campaign:

In round one, nearly 3,000 out of 50,000 people scanned the QR code or visited the personalized link, adding new names to the prospect pipeline. There were close to 700 conversions or people who submitted an online form indicating strong interest in becoming a student mentor.

Building on the first success, a second round of postcards and text messages was sent later in the year. This resulted in 1,800 additional prospects who scanned the QR code or visited the personalized link, with 600 conversions.

The organization now has 1,300 new student mentors in its application pipeline.