Johnnie: Client-centered and community-powered SNAP outreach software
Key Takeaways
- Johnnie is custom designed to meet the needs of local organizations that provide SNAP outreach and enrollment services
- Unlike typical food bank software or general CRMs, Johnnie offers features that balance automation with human compassion
- Local outreach workers share that Johnnie has allowed them to reach new members of their community and deepen their existing impact
We at mRelief named our SNAP outreach client relationship management platform (CRM), Johnnie after the visionary welfare activist Johnnie Tillmon. Tillmon believed that the public benefits system too often strips individuals of their dignity. Like Tillmon, we are working to transform access to social services by removing barriers to benefits access.
We’ve often heard from our partners that they chose Johnnie because they know mRelief understands how crucial the work of SNAP outreach is in the local community. As a nonprofit, mRelief is motivated to achieve our mission by providing the most value for the people we serve, both our end users and our partners, not on generating revenue or appeasing investors. Our technology promotes client dignity and enables empathetic casework, and our people provide support every step of the way.
End-to-end client relationship management
Other food bank software and CRMs enable data collection and reporting, but Johnnie offers end-to-end client relationship management.
Client Outreach
The client journey begins when they discover our quick SNAP eligibility screener. We work with our growth and community partners to design and run digital advertising campaigns to connect likely eligible individuals in their communities to our simple and accessible screener. Our screener is also available as an embedded iframe that our community partners, like the Catholic Charities of Chicago, can include right on their own websites. In addition to digital outreach, mRelief also offers flyers and postcard templates that partners can use to get the word out in their community.
With mRelief, intake is easy. Our eligibility screener allows anyone in 53 states and territories to find out if they’re likely eligible for SNAP via a mobile-friendly webpage or over text message (just text ‘Food’ to 74544). When clients screen eligible in an area where we have an active community partner, they have the option to schedule an appointment to complete a SNAP application over the phone with a knowledgeable outreach worker.
SNAP Enrollment
When a client requests an appointment, they receive a confirmation text message with the time of the appointment and the number they will receive the call from. These appointment slots are pre-populated based on the outreach worker schedules that the local organization has programmed into Johnnie.
When the outreach worker signs in to Johnnie, they will see all of their scheduled appointments for the day and can make calls directly from the Johnnie interface - either on a computer-connected headset or through an existing phone line. We designed additional features, like a time tracking button, notes, client-worker two-way messaging, and follow-up automation, to make SNAP outreach more efficient and impactful.
Follow Up
Johnnie uses text messaging automation to follow up with clients at key points of the process. These follow-up texts serve as nudges to provide information, move clients forward in the enrollment process, and are important sources of outcomes data for mRelief and our partners.
In addition to these automated messages, when clients need help, they can send in a text and their outreach worker can respond directly in Johnnie. Outreach workers can also use messaging to remind clients about their upcoming appointments, follow up with them about their application status, remind them to submit their documents, or refer them to other resources in their community.
Powerful reporting
Johnnie automatically collects robust data about each step of the process. Every organization and individual outreach worker has access to a live data dashboard that illustrates the impact of their outreach work. Johnnie tracks metrics such as time spent assisting clients, clients contacted and assisted with applications (including demographics, referral sources, etc.), and client outcome information.
These metrics can easily be downloaded from Johnnie into a spreadsheet that organizations can use in grant reporting or to match data in other systems.
Deepened Impact
Our partners at the Catholic Charities of South Carolina recently told us "In six years of providing SNAP assistance, we have only met our yearly goal once and that was after daily outreach. We still have a few more months left in our fiscal year and we are only 50 applications shy of our goal, thanks to mRelief."
We are so excited to offer Johnnie to organizations across the country who are seeking to deepen their impact.
“We highly value the organizational and administrative functions that Johnnie offers because it helps keep our clients at the center of our work. Johnnie minimizes the duties that would keep our staff’s energy and focus off of application assistance. This crucial support creates a positive experience for staff and increases the time spent assisting [clients].”
— Wayne Cannon, PAFB
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