Download the PDF

GovDelivery Email and Digital Subscription Management
– Federal Client Case Study



Client: The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) (www.fema.gov)
The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) states its mission "is to reduce the loss of life and property and protect the Nation from all hazards, including natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters, by leading and supporting the Nation in a risk-based, comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation."

---

FEMA'S NEEDS

• Improve communication
• Provide education
• Increase awareness of available programs
• Streamline the email communication process in a time of emergency as well as for informational emails
• Drive people to their website for information

SOLUTION

On September 12, 2007, FEMA launched GovDelivery's Digital Subscription Management system, and became a part of an elite group of government agencies with a focus on proactive communication with the public and their constituents. GovDelivery's DSM system is an automated system that uses email, wireless alerts or RSS to keep citizens informed when new information is available on topics of interest. The email alerts are provided to subscribers based on the FEMA website content.

In addition to utilizing GovDelivery's automated email alerts and RSS feeds, FEMA leverages the subscriber segmenting feature - Questions. This feature helps agencies improve their customer service by gathering details such as zip code, state or territory, thus allowing email communication to be based on region. Besides email addresses, FEMA collects zip codes and state or territory information.

With this information, when the President declares a disaster, FEMA has the ability to communicate with all subscribers within a given disaster area. They are able to pass along targeted information about how to obtain assistance, let residents know what the federal response is, and provide tips on rebuilding. For example, FEMA used GovDelivery during the California wildfires to send important information to California subscribers. (visit the FEMA California Wildfire page here: http://www.fema.gov/hazard/wildfire/ca_2007.shtm.)

---

---

RESULTS
Since launching GovDelivery in September 2007 FEMA has:

• Sent more than 800,000 emails to subscribers.
• Sent more than 3.5 million bulletins.
• Used the Questions feature to gather additional information on subscribers, and further target emergency alerts.
• Signed up more than 25,000 subscribers with an average of 4.7 subscription items per subscriber.
• Incorporated more than 70 specific subscription items across many agencies. Subscription options include:
  • National and Regional News Releases
  • Employment Opportunities
  • National Response Framework Updates
  • Emergency and Major Disaster Declarations

---

GovDelivery, Inc. is the world's leading provider of government-to-citizen email and wireless communication solutions designed specifically for the public sector and is used by organizations worldwide, including the U.S. Departments of Labor, State, Agriculture, and Commerce, U.K. Parliament, Norwich City Council (U.K.), Washington D.C., California Department of Insurance, Oregon Department of Human Services, Macomb County (MI), City of St. Paul (MN), and many more.

« back to case studies page