Besides the amazing staff, donors and volunteers making Bounce’s mission a reality, there’s one critical component that helps the nonprofit make a difference in children’s lives: technology.
From the start, Bounce sought to leverage technology in a meaningful way that helps children and their families stay connected with their community, says Joan Steltmann, CEO and founder.
Steltmann started her career at IBM, where she learned about the important role technology plays in helping drive positive outcomes. That experience taught her how to pursue ambitious goals using technology — something that’s inherent in how Bounce operates.
“It would not be possible for Bounce to pursue its mission without the technology solutions we use each day — from our user-friendly website and social media to our outbound communications and back-end infrastructure,” she says.
Bounce runs several programs to help children with chronic illness, including hosting events that create safe spaces for children and their family and hosting an online community.
In addition, Bounce also hosts Bounce Net, an online community where parents can ask questions, find resources and seek support from families who have gone through similar challenges.
Steltmann explains that families are also discovering additional ways to support one another and form long-lasting friendships through the online community.
For instance:
- A family needed a travel-ready wheelchair to fly across the country to attend a family funeral, but wheelchair costs made that prohibitive. When they asked if anyone on the Bounce network knew of affordable options, one family volunteered to lend their own wheelchair — ensuring that the family could make it to the funeral.
- Before joining Bounce, one family’s child made a close friend at a summer camp for children with chronic illness. Unfortunately, the families didn’t have a chance to share contact information. Shortly after joining Bounce’s online network, the families found each other, reigniting the children’s friendship.
The key to making this all happen: Bounce’s streamlined, user-friendly website.
