Case Study: University of Maryland achieves 95% behavior change among lower-income parents with Upland Software's mobile messaging

University of Maryland - Customer Case Study

The University of Maryland’s Food Supplement Nutrition Education (FSNE) program delivers nutrition and healthy-lifestyle education to lower-income families but struggled to reach parents — the primary decision-makers — because many work multiple jobs, can’t attend sessions, and mailed flyers are often ignored. FSNE needed a reliable way to deliver timely, actionable nutrition information directly to parents.

FSNE launched a mobile texting campaign (2–3 texts/week) with community event notices, recipes, store specials and activity ideas. The pilot drove strong engagement and behavior change: 95% of parents reported changing behaviors, 73% act on messages always or most of the time, 86% would sign up again, the program grew from 170 to over 1,000 participants, and opt-outs remained low while parents even replied to confirm plans.

University of Maryland

Laryessa Worthington

EatSmart Coordinator