How Well-Read Mom Achieves Their Mission with Text Messaging – Case Study

About Well-Read Mom  

Well-Read Mom takes the work out of running a book club. Founded in 2012 in a small town in Minnesota, Well-Read Mom (WRM) is a nonprofit, woman-centered organization committed to helping busy moms find the time to read good books and build community around them. WRM does all the heavy lifting for its members and chapters — putting together reading lists, connecting groups, coordinating schedules — and all moms get to read, discuss and enjoy high-quality literature, theology and philosophy. What began with a gathering of just 20 women in founder Marcie Stockman’s living room has blossomed into a national organization with chapters in all 50 states and nine different countries. That’s nearly 10,000 women reading great books and engaging in personal growth, friendship and meaningful conversations.   

Substantial growth and a CRM to help! 

As WRM quickly outgrew Marcie’s living room and began spreading across the nation, they identified a need for a CRM to support their mission while remaining within their limited budget. Nicole Bugnacki, Executive Director of Well-Read Mom, shared that they selected WildApricot for its customization, support and price point. And in 2022, when WildApricot launched their Text Messaging Service, Nicole identified an opportunity to leverage the new service to deliver the most important (and engaging) content to their members – audio discussion prompts for meetings.  

The power of text messaging 

When members feel inundated with emails, a simple text message can come as a breath of fresh air. Research shows that while email marketing has a 20% open rate on average, SMS, or short message service, enjoys a remarkable 98% open rate. In a similar vein, the time-to-open rate also comes out on top, with users taking 90 minutes to open an email vs. only 90 seconds to open a text. Click-through rates (CRT) bear the same story, with an average CTR rate of 2.6% for emails vs. 6.1% for SMS. Finally, conversion rates reflect the SMS advantage, with an average of 15% to 29% in favor of texting. When it comes to email vs. text message marketing, the upper hand goes to the small but mighty text message.  

This is a marketing truth that Nicole understands well. As the top-user of WildApricot’s text messaging service, this small-budget, mission-based organization relies on text messaging to help increase engagement among their members and to achieve their mission.  

Before a meeting, Well-Read Women sends each chapter facilitator a text message containing two to three audio files: one to open the meeting, one to close, and an occasional bonus file with insights from an author or professor to help members dig deeper into the reading. The sessions are structured around these audio files, so members need to be able to access them quickly and easily. Many groups also meet in public places or in homes off the grid — so being able to access the files even without Wi-Fi is a must.  

While members have the option to opt in and out of Well-Read Mom’s SMS communications at will or choose to receive email communications instead, many prefer the ease and accessibility of SMS. This has led to increased engagement with WRM’s supplemental materials and mission, allowing the organization to meet women where they are and help them truly connect with the reading. Using SMS, WRM can also easily send out member surveys, enabling them to tailor member experience even more precisely. The response rate to these surveys is excellent, as members can quickly and easily fill them out right from their phones in just a few clicks.  

Other than the occasional survey, WRM only sends out a single text a month — the most important one containing the audio files for meetings — so they don’t have to worry about overwhelming members with too many texts. For this reason, few members choose to unsubscribe from receiving SMS communications, and click-through rates remain consistently high.  

Know your audience and provide member options 

Despite the popularity of SMS, many of your members still prefer email communications, even if they may not open them as swiftly as a text message. For some, the slower pace of email communications plays into its appeal over SMS. Much depends on the demographics of your member base and their individual preferences. Each form of communication comes with its own set of challenges and unique advantages.  

Regardless of which form of communication you determine is right for your nonprofit, club or association — SMS, email, or a combination — WildApricot has the framework for igniting engagement, connection and driving member value. With mobile-friendly templates, you can quickly and easily create attractive, professional-looking emails to send out to members, while understanding your impact with a statistics hub that allows you to track engagement metrics like delivery, opens and links clicked for every message and every contact.  

For members who prefer short and sweet communications, our Text Notification Service helps you quickly share event updates, communicate membership renewal deadlines, execute donation campaigns and more with fun and professional SMS. Plus, you can manage and track your messaging efforts directly within your WildApricot system to see the engagement with your communications. 

By leveraging WildApricot’s SMS capabilities, Well-Read Mom ensures that important meeting materials are delivered quickly and efficiently, catering to the busy schedules of its members. This approach has led to increased engagement, 35% growth over the past several years and has allowed the organization to effectively tailor experiences to individual member preferences. 

WildApricot’s versatile platform supports both communication methods, enabling associations and nonprofits to optimize their engagement strategies. This flexibility ensures that organizations can make the most out of their communications, regardless of their chosen method, fostering an engaged, connected and mission-focused member base.