The Problem
Maryland Family Network (MFN) provides resources for families to ensure their child's first five years are successful through the Division of Early Childhood.
The organization struggled to collect and maintain accurate, up-to-date vacancy data from childcare providers. Historically, the response rates for updating vacancy data were extremely low, leading to outdated and unreliable information.
MFN faced a few challenges:
Only 7.3% of providers had ever updated their vacancy data, with even lower rates in recent months (5.2% in the last six months and just 1.2% in the last month).
Gathering data from provider gaps took hours every month and had to be manually entered
Families and Call Specialists were not able to search programs by vacancies
The Solution
Upfront and MFN launched its first full-scale, automated vacancy data collection campaign. The campaign involved sending targeted emails to 5,484 childcare providers with several strategic approaches to maximize response rates and impact:
Thorough email validation process was conducted before the campaign to reduce bounce rates, removing nearly 800 invalid emails
Embedding the submission form in the email, which collected responses without providers needing to log in into their portal
Integrated submission forms into the database for a seamless data transmission into childcare search, data dashboard, and call referral
The Results
Upfront's new system quickly and dramatically improves ECE data access to families, providers, and advocates.
The campaign surpassed the historic 7.3%, receiving responses from 10.3% of emailed providers within two hours. Six months after launch, monthly response rates are consistently above 14%.
Reported vacancies increased from 1,953 before the campaign to 3,578, identifying 1,625 vacancies previously unknown
Vacancy data older than a month was archived from the LOCATE system, ensuring families and MFN always have access to the most current information
