Case Study: Hastings HEART mobilizes 1,000+ volunteers to serve local residents with NationBuilder

Hastings HEART builds a volunteer powerhouse to serve locals in need

Hastings HEART, a mutual-aid nonprofit launched in early 2020 by Alastair Fairley and Kim Batty, faced the challenge of rapidly organizing a surge of volunteers to meet pandemic-era community needs. They adopted NationBuilder’s platform (which was offered free to COVID responders) to create the digital infrastructure needed to capture volunteer data, manage sign-ups, and coordinate outreach.

Using NationBuilder’s tagged, filterable database and action pages, Hastings HEART tracked qualifications, ran targeted email asks, filtered volunteers by zip code for local tasks, and sent customized newsletters. The result was a scalable, secure operation that mobilized over 1,000 volunteers and completed 6K+ tasks, launched longer-term services like Home Connect, and played a key role supporting local vaccination efforts—underscoring NationBuilder’s impact on their growth and effectiveness.

Hastings HEART

Alastair Fairley

Hastings HEART