Case Study: United Way Worldwide achieves Millennial engagement and generates 90 crowd-sourced ideas (6 actionable) with IdeaScale

United Way Engaging Millennials with Crowdsourcing

United Way, the world’s largest privately funded nonprofit operating in nearly 1,800 communities, wanted to better engage Millennials and other stakeholders digitally, invite co-creation of community solutions, and educate donors while experimenting in a low-risk environment. Their challenge was to create modern, inclusive digital engagement that met people “where they are” and produced actionable ideas for local United Ways.

Over six months United Way Worldwide piloted crowdsourcing with eight local United Ways using IdeaScale, providing a community template, biweekly coaching, and monthly office hours to design and run campaigns. The pilot yielded 90 ideas from 244 registered users, with six ideas moving toward testing or implementation, and all eight partners planning to continue crowdsourcing; participants reported the platform felt “modern and inclusive,” and staff found it effective for leveraging collective knowledge, strengthening relationships, and engaging donors and volunteers.

United Way Worldwide