In brief
Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organisation that helps build, repair and renovate the homes of some of the poorest people and communities in the world and build strength, resilience and independence.
Established in 1976 they have helped over 29 million people and communities in over 70 countries including Honduras, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, as well as the United Kingdom, China and the United States.
Habitat for Humanity were using WhatsApp & Slack to communicate with project teams and volunteers who were building houses around the world.
They chose Guild to create a simple, mobile, message based communications tool and have streamlined building projects using quick and private messaging communication between HQ, teams on building sites. They also maintain highly engaged alumni groups on Guild.
The Opportunity
Habitat for Humanity Great Britain is a non-profit that organises and facilitates the building of homes for people who need it. They were using a myriad communication tools to communicate with their volunteers working on overseas build projects, including Slack and WhatsApp.
They were keen to improve their user experience and streamline communications between on-site operations and headquarters. Slack worked well for them as a tool for internal communication, but didn’t quite serve the right purpose for the projects that Habitat for Humanity GB managed externally.
WhatsApp was used by volunteers informally, but Habitat for Humanity GB wanted to formalise and professionalise the communication between volunteers and found that this was easier to achieve through Guild.
Habitat for Humanity were aware of WhatsApp’s data privacy and compliance risks to charities and non-profits, and wanted to explore WhatsApp alternatives and GDPR and CCPA compliant messaging apps and solutions.
Guild's Solution
Groups are set up on Guild for all of Habitat for Humanity's live builds and are hosted by the Team Leaders of each of the builds
These groups can be set up in a matter of minutes with Habitat for Humanity branding. Guild provides a simple way for project managers to organise logistics and discuss important information with the whole group.
- Streamlining communications between volunteers and HQ - HQ is now able to oversee what is happening on the ground through an instant messaging experience. It also provides them with the assurance that all builds are going to plan.
- Capturing user-generated content in a more structured way - Previously user-generated content was captured informally and over a number of different platforms after builds were completed. Guild provides Habitat for Humanity GB with live user-generated contact, that is captured on one platform. The transparency amongst build groups also creates a sense of camaraderie and healthy competition, which will increase the amount of content produced over time.
- Keeping alumni community close - Habitat for Humanity GB also set up an alumni community on Guild to ensure that they are able to keep in contact with previous build participants, which increases referrals over time.
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Are you a charity, social enterprise or not-for-profit organisation?
Do you need a GDPR compliant messaging platform and a privacy-first WhatsApp alternative? Or are you looking for an alternative to Slack, LinkedIn or Facebook Groups?
See for yourself how the Guild experience is different to WhatsApp, Slack, LinkedIn or Facebook Groups.
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