Updated 30 December 2024 to remove some details about processes and software.
On any given day, the small team at Cobalt Abortion Fund in Colorado (CAF) may field as many as 50 requests from people seeking help accessing abortion care. Many of these cases are very complicated, with staff helping to coordinate everything from childcare to airline tickets.
The CAF team used to do everything with a shared inbox and spreadsheets, but this increased stress for everyone. There were too many moving parts. Response times were longer than they needed to be. Sometimes people did not get the care they needed in time. It was frustrating for staff and the people asking for help.
“When we were reaching out to clients, we were finding out the clients were kind of upset at how long it took for us to get back to them and there was a lot of anger or distrust on the other side because of the process.”
Melisa Hidalgo-Cuellar, Cobalt Abortion Fund Director
Undaunted Consulting worked with CAF to transform their support process. They wanted to implement more straightforward case management workflows. We built out the database, automations, and notifications to make it possible.
Now, instead of going to a shared inbox, requests go straight to CAF’s enterprise case management system. Instead of seeing dozens of unread emails first thing in the morning, they see their cases and tasks they need to take care of. As one team member put it, “I can just focus on the folks that are in my queue and not get stressed about how many we have overall as much as I used to.”
Staff also reported a lot less back and forth between themselves and callers. It used to be that arranging support took several phone calls and email exchanges. Now, they can often get everything done in a single interaction.
Anyone who has ever accidentally hit “Reply All” knows the privacy risks that come from a shared inbox. The system we developed has more security layers, plus an additional automation that regularly purges identifying information. Everyone becomes a “J Doe.” Contact information is deleted. Limited data is retained for reporting, but there is nothing left to tie a person to their appointment.
Finally, we built another automation for feedback. Feedback is vital for continuous monitoring, evaluation, and improvement, not to mention marketing and fundraising, but it takes a lot of time, time abortion funds rarely have. Now, instead of having to try to remember to send a feedback form, the case management software does it automatically. Clients get a special link that ties their responses to the staff member they worked with and the clinic they went to.
Summary of the benefits Cobalt Abortion Fund have seen since working with Undaunted are:
- 70% faster response times.
- Significantly reduced staff and client stress.
- Increased security and privacy protections.
- More positive feedback from clients.
- Faster staff onboarding.
- Trusting, transparent, and collaborative development process.
Undaunted Consulting’s core values are service, sincerity, and collaboration. Cobalt said we lived up to these values. For us, there is no higher praise, and no higher reward, than being able to help a client do more good.
“It was always super clear to us what to expect throughout the whole process and I learned that David [the project lead] would be there for us for any needs that came up. I really appreciate that, and it really built such a system of trust between us.”
Melisa Hidalgo-Cuellar, Cobalt Abortion Fund Director
If you are an abortion fund, or other social justice/service nonprofit, and you want to be more effective and feel more empowered, reach out to us for a free initial consultation today.