Social Services Heat Help Program

Statewide low-income family utility service

Business Challenge

• Increase participation to get further funding
• Increase awareness of the program

Solution Strategy

• Employed a combination of mass media and direct marketing tools to communicate with eligible households statewide
• Helped the client manage expectations regarding call volume and results

Solution Tactics

• Constructed a media plan that communicated with low-income households and could employ a simple, emotional tone of voice to deliver contact information
• Supported mass media with direct mail to specific households, repeating the contact information
• Client staffed and trained centers to prepare for inbound volume

Results:

• Applications were up at least 100% in every Colorado county and more than 200% in dozens of those counties, including Denver County
• Low-income families who were not in the database but were eligible for help jumped more than 100%