Pathways to Independence

Introduction: Supporting Women Through Communication

Pathways to Independence is a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young women from disadvantaged backgrounds. The organization provides a full safety net—including education, housing, transportation, healthcare, mentorship, and emotional support—to help young women between 18 and 35 overcome challenges and achieve self-sufficiency.

However, providing these essential services requires constant, clear, and effective communication. With 37+ clients, over 90 fundraising volunteers, 40+ mentors, and a small administrative team managing conversations efficiently was becoming overwhelming. Clients weren’t responding to emails, volunteers needed real-time updates, and event attendance suffered due to missed messages.

"We were struggling to communicate efficiently across so many groups," says Diana Hill, Executive Director at Pathways to Independence. "We needed a way to keep everyone informed, engaged, and involved—without spending hours following up on phone calls or sending emails that never got read."

That’s where MessageDesk came in.

Challenge: Engaging Clients and Coordinating Volunteers Efficiently

Before MessageDesk, Pathways to Independence faced major communication hurdles:

• Low engagement rates – Young clients weren’t responding to emails or phone calls.
• Volunteer coordination issues – Managing a network of over 90 fundraising volunteers and 40 mentors required more efficient communication.
• Missed updates and events – Important messages often went unread, leading to confusion and inefficiencies.
• Ineffective survey responses – Traditional feedback collection methods weren’t working, limiting insights into client needs.

"Our clients don’t check emails regularly, and calling each person individually just wasn’t scalable," says Diana. "We were constantly chasing down people to confirm meetings, remind them about events, or collect feedback. It felt like we were always playing catch-up."

The team needed a centralized and real-time way to communicate with clients, volunteers, and donors—without adding extra administrative work.

Solution: Centralizing and Automating Communication with MessageDesk

After researching solutions, Pathways to Independence implemented MessageDesk to streamline communication across their entire organization.

"We knew texting was how our clients preferred to communicate, so we needed a tool that made it easy for us to manage large-scale messaging without losing the personal touch," Diana explains.

The team now uses MessageDesk to:

1. Improve Client Engagement
   • Send text reminders for educational workshops, housing updates, and mentorship meetings.
   • Broadcast urgent announcements to campus residents.
   • Automate alerts for deadlines and important updates.

"We realized that texting was the best way to reach our clients," says Diana. "They respond to texts almost immediately, whereas emails go unread for days. Now, if we need to remind them about an event or send a deadline alert, we know they’ll see it."

2. Coordinate Volunteers & Mentors
   • Broadcast messages to their 90+ fundraising volunteers and 40+ mentors.
   • Create group-specific distribution lists for targeted communication.
   • Send quick reminders for meetings, deadlines, and upcoming events.

"We have so many moving parts—mentors, volunteers, donors, staff. Before MessageDesk, coordinating everyone felt impossible," Diana says. "Now, I can send one text, and in seconds, everyone is up to speed. It’s a game-changer."

3. Collect Real-Time Feedback
   • Surveys sent via text during in-person events now receive near 100% response rates.
   • Clients and volunteers can instantly respond to feedback requests.

"We struggled to get feedback before," Diana shares. "We’d send out Google Forms via email, and maybe a handful would respond. Now, we send a text during our events with the survey link, and every single person fills it out on the spot. The difference is night and day."

4. Support Donor & Fundraising Initiativessome text
   • Send personalized text updates to donors about fundraising campaigns.
   • Engage their “Emerging Philanthropists of Pathways” donor group, which prefers texting over email.

"Fundraising is a huge part of what we do," says Diana. "We rely on our donor network to keep our programs running. MessageDesk allows us to keep them informed in a way that’s personal and direct, which has strengthened our donor relationships."

Results: Higher Engagement, Faster Communication, and Streamlined Operations

Since implementing MessageDesk, Pathways to Independence has seen transformational improvements in communication and efficiency:

✅ Increased client engagement – Text messages are read and responded to at far higher rates than emails.
✅ Improved efficiency – Staff no longer waste time chasing down responses.
✅ Enhanced volunteer coordination – Fundraising and mentorship programs run more smoothly with real-time messaging.
✅ Better survey participation – Sending surveys via text led to a 100% response rate at live events.
✅ Stronger donor relationships – Texting helps keep supporters engaged and informed.

"Before MessageDesk, herding cats would have been an understatement," Diana jokes. "Now, we can communicate confidently, knowing our messages are being read. It’s completely changed the way we operate."

With plans to expand automation and integrate with their case management software, Pathways to Independence continues to leverage MessageDesk to scale its impact and support even more young women on their journey to independence.