Acoustic > Case Studies > Driving Charitable Donations to the USO with Acoustic's IoT Solution

Driving Charitable Donations to the USO with Acoustic's IoT Solution

Technology Category

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Sensors - Acoustic Sensors

Applicable Industries

Cities & Municipalities
National Security & Defense

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Predictive Maintenance
Time Sensitive Networking

About The Customer

The USO is a congressionally chartered, nonprofit organization that serves members of the U.S. military and their families. It is not part of the federal government and relies on generous donations from individuals and corporations to support its charitable work. The USO operates centers at or near military installations across the United States and throughout the world, including in combat zones, offering around-the-clock hospitality for traveling service members and their families. Headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area, the USO supports the men and women in the U.S. military, and their families, throughout their time in uniform and as they transition back to civilian life.

The Challenge

The United Service Organization (USO), a nonprofit organization serving members of the U.S. military and their families, was facing challenges in driving donations due to the increasingly crowded media and communication landscape. Potential donors were being overwhelmed with requests from various worthy causes, making it difficult for the USO to stand out and attract the necessary funds to support its mission. Over the past 25 years, the rise of email, social media, text messaging, and other electronic messaging channels have added to the noise, making it even more challenging for nonprofits like the USO to reach potential donors. Recognizing these shifts in the landscape, the USO decided to incorporate a robust email program into its marketing mix to help drive the donations it needed to carry out its mission year after year. To achieve this, the USO reached out to Message Digital, a full-service digital agency, for help.

The Solution

Message Digital, leveraging Acoustic’s marketing platform, developed a personalized email communication strategy to drive campaign results for the USO. Recognizing that personalized messages drive results in donor outreach, Message Digital used Acoustic Campaign to drive consistent, relevant, and personalized outreach at scale. This approach significantly reduced the time-to-market for the USO’s first digital campaign. Acoustic Campaign was deeply embedded in Message Digital's digital marketing offering, providing data for their custom analytics portal and enabling the USO to see how their campaigns were performing against their key performance indicators. The platform was also fully integrated with Message Digital's payments gateway, allowing for seamless processing of contributions on behalf of the USO. By using Acoustic Campaign, the USO gained deep insights into how people interacted with their messages, enabling them to identify donors and inspire them to contribute.

Operational Impact

The use of Acoustic’s marketing platform has resulted in a more flexible, nimble, and responsive digital marketing strategy for the USO. Unlike direct mail campaigns that need to be planned months in advance, changes to digital campaigns can be made right up to, and in some cases even on, the day of the launch. This flexibility and responsiveness have been significant benefits for the USO in their digital channel. Furthermore, the insights gained from the campaigns have enabled the USO to better understand how people interact with their messages, allowing them to identify potential donors and inspire them to contribute. The partnership with Message Digital and the use of Acoustic Campaign have empowered the USO to raise significant donations through the digital channel, supporting their work with U.S. military service personnel around the world.

Quantitative Benefit