Case Studies
GroundSource can help you engage your community, broaden your networks and build meaningful relationships. New organizations, non-profits and businesses alike have used our technology—with great results. Here are some of the ways in which our partner organizations have used Groundsource for good.
Challenge
Hear from people closest to the issues.
ProPublica's Approach
Use GroundSource to solicit stories from New Yorkers about the cost of housing and whether they were getting pushed out by landlords seeking higher rent. ProPublica distributed flyers in specific communities and apartment complexes and received dozens of stories. Read their investigations here.
Challenge
Mobilize supporters by delivering timely information and calls to action straight to their phones.
Baykeeper's Approach
Deliver micro newsletters via SMS to their community about their latest work, giving subscribers opportunities to take action by contacting their local representatives or sharing stories.
Challenge
Turn a daily talk show into a participatory, public-powered conversation without relying on call-ins.
1A's Approach
Launch a “text club” and send regular questions and updates to 4500+ devoted listeners. 1A now receives 400-600 responses every time they send out a prompt.
Challenge
Deliver actionable data to the low-income residents who need it most.
Outlier Media’s Approach
Use “web hooks” and mobile messaging to make Detroit’s public records truly public. Thanks to Outlier’s journalism service, Detroiters can access tax records, inspections reports and other critical rental information for any property in the city.
Challenge
Hear marginalized voices and empower students at a rural high school.
KUNM's Approach
Work with student liaisons to develop questions for their peers and capture untold stories. The resulting radio feature was one of KUNM’s most popular stories in 2017 and earned certificates of achievement for the student collaborators from the school board.
Challenge
Engage people in a sustained conversation during and (more importantly) after a community event.
WDIV's Approach
Promote a prompt (“What brings us together as Detroiters?”) online and on-air during America’s Thanksgiving Parade—Detroit’s biggest public event of the year. WDIV received 1,200 responses, providing the foundation for a community listening project.
Challenge
Tune into what the community thinks about current events and get insight into their day-to-day lives.
Listening Post NOLA's Approach
Use GroundSource as a digital listening post, asking the community to respond to questions twice a month. At least 10 percent of their sources respond, delivering nuanced discussions about current events and life in the Big Easy straight into their newsroom.
Challenge
Facilitate civil, productive conversation around one of the thorniest political issues: guns and gun control.
Listening Post Macon's Approach
Use GroundSource to ask a series of responsive questions about their experiences, giving the community a safe space to express themselves before sharing their opinions with the public. Life-long gun owners and anti-gun advocates shared their thoughts, including one mother who wrote talked about how gun violence shattered her family and encouraged her to buy a gun to safeguard her remaining children. Read that story here.
Challenge
Connect with community members who aren’t part of “the audience.”
Colorado Public Radio's Approach
Use GroundSource to gather perspectives on Colorado’s minimum-wage proposal from the people most likely to be affected by it. CPR producer Meredith Turk collected phone numbers by knocking on doors in a low-income housing project and talking with people at a political rally, connecting her with dozens of new sources who weren’t already CPR listeners.
Challenge
Gather thoughtful community feedback after the debate turned nasty in the comments section.
The Virginian Pilot's Approach
Print the GroundSource phone number in the paper and post it next to stories online. GroundSource let journalists shape one-on-one conversation that elicited more thoughtful, on point and civil responses than they had been able to gather before. See what Virginians had to say here.
Challenge
Get buy-in from the next generation of stakeholders.
NASA's Approach
Team up with a Arizona State University citizen science group to collect the views of young Americans on the future of space exploration. The GroundSource phone number was promoted and gathering and received hundreds of survey responses, providing a window into the priorities and thoughts of a demographic who future support was crucial to the organization.
Challenge
Leverage a collaboration to survey a community.
Cambridge University's Approach
Partner with Radio Nam Lolwe, north of Nairobi, Kenya, to collect opinions on presidential term limits, banning plastic bags, and food security. Cambridge gathered data on using SMS messaging for community engagement and local NGOs received insight into their communities’ needs.
Challenge
Provide localized, customized information to residents during a natural disaster.
Univision's Approach
Use GroundSource during Hurricane Harvey to inform Houston-area residents of evacuation routes and to provide critical weather and safety updates. Univision broadcast the phone number on TV and radio throughout southern Texas and more than 10,000 people subscribed to updates on the platform.