Direct Relief

When a natural disaster strikes, it becomes urgent to provide immediate assistance to those in need. Nonprofits like Direct Relief provide necessities such as food and water or critical healthcare services after an earthquake or hurricane.

During the 2017 hurricane season, Direct Relief's small team received hundreds of messages on Facebook Messenger from people worldwide. Some were looking for ways to support those in impacted communities, while others needed urgent information on how to receive medical assistance.

The team was overwhelmed by the volume of messages, which made timely responses challenging.

At first, the only way the team could think of to handle such a large volume of messages was to hire more people, either temporary staff or trained volunteers. Eventually, they discovered the effectiveness of chatbots.

Before building their own Facebook chatbot, they explored Chatfuel's automation templates to get familiar with what automation can do.

Direct Relief used Chatfuel to create a Facebook Messenger chatbot intelligent enough to understand people's needs and guide them toward the resources they need.

The team integrated Dialogflow through the JSON API, which expanded the bot's contextual understanding and responsiveness. Staff members regularly review the chatbot to make sure it meets its goal, and people can always switch to a live chat if they prefer.

Response time dropped from several days to less than a minute, so people receive the resources and aid they need as quickly as possible. The chatbot has already responded to over 10,000 user messages.

Direct Relief doesn't spend much on advertising, so maintaining relationships with supporters is essential. The chatbot helps with nonprofit marketing and facilitates fundraising by engaging donors and directing them to the right place.

It also saves the team dozens of hours each week, which they can redirect to their mission of serving those in need.