Join the Fight

Background.

For almost two decades, Texas Jump$tart has been bringing educators together under a cohesive mission: advancing financial literacy among young Texas. Today, the statewide organization continues to enthusiastically support the education efforts of its partners. It raises awareness of the financial educational requirements for Texas youth, fosters innovation and collaboration among partners, provides resources for Texans interested in financial education, and fuels the conversation about financial education in Texas through its affiliation with the National Jump$tart Coalition based in Washington, D.C.

Founded in 2003 by the Texas Credit Union Foundation, which represented 600 credit unions in Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, Texas Jump$tart has remained steadfast in its growth and outreach. Following a hiatus from 2008-2015, and under the leadership of the newly elected Coalition President Kellie Hayes, a former elementary teacher, the organization became more active and redrafted its bylaws, using advice and support from the National organization to organize its future website.

When Texas Jump$tart asked us to help hone their brand image and messaging, and develop a member portal and communications/resource hub, we jumped at the opportunity. It was a cause that galvanized support from every angle — teachers, students, parents, legislators, financial institutions — and we would create the platform to bring them together. The ‘Join the Fight’ campaign was born.

Challenge.

In the organization’s early days, Texas Jump$tart was dedicated to connecting with the champions of financial education throughout the state. The process, despite the rewarding successes it brought, was laborious and time-consuming at this time, limiting their ability to scale to new audiences and build a wider membership of key influential people.

As Texas Jump$tart regrouped and reactivated its mission to raise awareness of financial literacy among Texas youth, there was a desire to amplify the message, reach more individuals and diverse audiences across the state, and prompt enthusiastic engagement from a community of members driven by a unifying goal.

What Texas Jump$tart needed was a branded website and a user-friendly platform to serve as a member portal with an integrated events calendar and information repository. This digital space would need to function as an epicenter of activity, simultaneously growing and reinforcing the relationship between members and the Jump$tart brand. It would also require the more practical elements of a well-functioning and cost-effective portal, such as a more efficient way to track and bill membership dues.

The platform also needed the messaging, art direction, and other creative to strengthen the value-added proposition and engage the members’ sense of purpose and brand loyalty, spurring referred demand and growing awareness.

Campaign.

Relationships were central to the mechanisms behind Texas Jump$tart’s activities, whether they were creating awareness, sharing best practices, or forming collaborative partnerships among diverse financial education champions. So when Texas Jump$tart approached us with their goal to design their website and develop a membership platform, we looked at how we could build on these relationships to increase both membership and membership renewal.

Naturally, the ‘Join the Fight’ campaign evolved out of the idea of creating a singular, multi-purpose platform that would connect the community and energize the cause.

We first developed the art direction with a keen focus on what would matter to members, targeting diverse demographic groups such as teachers, students, parents, lawmakers, and other financial institution members. One crucial element in the development of the website, member portal, and knowledge base was a clean-cut information architecture, guiding users to relevant resources, information, and other support in a friendly and stress-free manner.

With the art direction, the website, a member portal, and knowledge base, the final touches to the ‘Join the Fight’ campaign included an assortment of targeted sales copy to better communicate the value-added proposition and scale engagement to new audiences with clear, action-orientated information.

Results.

The ‘Join the Fight’ campaign served as the springboard for Texas Jump$tart to broaden their appeal and provide an easy, focused digital arena for members to support the cause of financial literacy.

Soon after deployment, we saw an instant, positive response among members, and we helped Texas Jump$tart increase its new member enrollment by 37% while raising the membership renewal rate to 70%, the highest percentage of membership renewal since the organization was founded. Additionally, as the platform automated enrollment and member renewals, Texas Jump$tart increased its membership funds by 300%.

This increased visibility and engagement were also evident as Texas Jump$tart held its most successful membership roundup events along with teacher workshops and the Financial Literacy Summit.

FIVE

The ‘Join the Fight’ campaign depended on an interactive, user-friendly space where Jump$tart could actively support the cause of financial literacy and reinforce the organization’s awareness efforts and events with a value-focused membership program.

The website, member portal, and knowledge base were fundamental to converting new members and ensuring membership renewal. With the art direction and sales copy, however, we were able to scale the brand’s reach to connect with more diverse and relevant audience segments.

ONE

The idea behind the ‘Join the Fight’ campaign was a unifying effort galvanizing influential, like-minded individuals to take action and support the cause. From this core strategy, we could heighten the utility of the platform and foster engagement with a communications platform and knowledge hub specifically designed for teachers, students, parents, legislators, and financial institution members.

TWO

Following the campaign, Texas Jump$tart experienced continual membership growth with its highest-ever rates of membership renewal in both 2018 and 2019. From this brand loyalty, we were able to spur referred demand. With new member enrollment increased by 37%, Texas Jump$tart had its most successful new membership roundups, teacher workshops, and Financial Literacy Summit in the same years.