National nonprofit creates online early childhood development community

As COVID-19 continues to disrupt the lives and routines of communities around the country, non-profit agencies are working differently to support those in need. Ounce of Prevention, a national non-profit focused on early childhood education and families, has launched a new collaborative online community that connects advocates, partners, and leaders in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Ounce of Prevention has leveraged the Verint Community Cloud platform for its Early Childhood Connector (ECConnector)—a co-designed, collaborative online community and dynamic space for advocates, partners, and leaders to connect and share knowledge, resources, and expertise across state lines, disciplines, and professions.

Powered by the Verint Community Cloud, the Rapid Response Community program is designed to help organizations launch secure employee and customer communities to communicate and coordinate in the midst of the shifting landscape stemming from the global pandemic.

While the initial launch was slated for later in 2020, the timeline was expedited because the COVID-19 crisis made the need for real-time collaboration across the early childhood landscape much more urgent.

“We accelerated our timeline for launch and were able to accomplish this thanks to the quick support of the Verint Community team and Social Edge Consulting,” said Colleen Murphy, vice president, Early Childhood Connector. “As of April 21, the community has grown to over 650 engaged members sharing much-needed credible resources and best practices to help navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage anyone in the early childhood field to join our growing community.”

The Rapid Response Community program features a quick set-up process that requires minimal IT involvement and is designed to deliver a secure, cloud-based community within 10 business days based on the organization’s specific needs. The end result is an online community that is accessible from any web-browser on any device, which allows stakeholders to easily find and access critical information, self-serve, share ideas, and collaborate.

“Today, companies are struggling to support their customers due to major workforce disruption, moving to remote and work-from-home conditions,” said Jon Allen, vice president and general manager, communities and web self-service, at Verint. “As a result, employees, contractors, partners and customers are challenged with easily accessing the information and resources they need in real-time.”

To aid organizations during this time, Verint is waiving the Rapid Response Community Software-as-a-Service licensing fees for 90 days, starting any time from now until June 20, and charging a minimal set-up fee to create and launch a community within 10 business days.

To learn more about Verint’s Rapid Response Community program, go here.