May 2024: A Month of Milestones

May has been full of positive change and connection for HeartSupport. We’ve seen impressive growth across all our platforms, formed meaningful partnerships and, most importantly, fostered an open and safe space for mental health conversations.

Influencer Collaborations and MHCA Progress

Our MHCA (Mental Health: Challenge Accepted) fundraiser is gaining momentum, uniting influencers who are passionate about making a real difference. The first-ever MHCA match between Born of Osiris guitarist Lee McKinney and Kiesel Guitars showcases the power of collaborative action in addressing mental health challenges in the industry. With them, we are also pleased to welcome Brittany and Matty Mullins, Dustie Waring, Dan and Casey, Chris North, Devan Dickerson, Cody Smith, Cody McBroom, Jammer Actual (Gaming/Veteran) and Greg Anderson to the initiative.

Checkout the fundraising page to support your favorite influencer and stay up to date on campaign goals. 

YouTube Reaches New Heights

Our YouTube channels have soared this month. The relaunch of Jake's react channel has been an immediate hit with viewers, adding over 1.4k subscribers.

We've received shoutouts from major artists like Bilmuri, for Jake’s reaction to EMPTYHANDED, and Shinedown, expanding our reach and impact. Lee McKinney commented on our video reacting to Elevate.Our special content with Levi The Poet has deeply touched viewers, and we've since received heartfelt messages like these:

The reaction video to Mudvayne Happy has received over 77k views, easily becoming our most popular content of the month.

We have been receiving fantastic feedback and sincere responses from our community members in the comments sections of our videos, which shows that our replies have been helpful and well-received. One such instance is the following note received from a viewer:

"I’m not sure what I was expecting to hear from you guys but it definitely was NOT a personalized video. My mind is blown that you would take the time to pay such attention to me just from a comment in a reaction video section. Very much appreciated and you have gotten my day off to a better start than I’m accustomed to. Again thank you so very much. I love Taylor’s reactions and I really am very fond of you now. I’m sorry I don’t remember your name but I won’t forget your face because the kindness you’ve shown, basically a total stranger, has touched my soul and I am truly grateful for that. Much love to you and yours from Phoenix Arizona"

Instagram Engagement Soars

Our “Bands of the Week” series on Instagram, which included Signs of the Swarm, Wage War, Nothing More, and Brand of Sacrifice, received a lot of love from the community. This engagement has resulted in meaningful conversations and a genuine sense of community, deepening our online link. Our replies continue to be helpful in developing these ties, helping us to strengthen and nurture our community.

Outreach and Partnerships

We have formed a new partnership with Capulet Fest, broadening our reach and opportunity to connect with music fans. We've also taken part in a benefit concert for Summer Scream Fest in Brooklyn, showcasing that bands believe we are a worthy cause!

Community and Support

The community is at the center of everything we do. We’ve shared a powerful story of a major life change, urging others to embrace their journeys and keep hoping for better.

Our dedicated team has written 724 replies to 224 people with an 86.9% resolution rate in April, providing support and guidance to those who need it.

We've also celebrated DJ, a community member, getting a new HeartSupport tattoo.

Story from the Community (trigger warning— suicide)

A user posted on our forum with active suicidal intent. This is a story of how our community responded, and the effect it had on the user.

Org Update April 2024: Q1 Results, Q2 Goals

Thank you for investing in HeartSupport. You can read our Q1/Q2 update below, or you can watch/listen to Nate’s overview, including additional context here:

Results from Q1 2024:

• Build an exceptional volunteer experience

  • Document, automate, and/or delegate all moderation tasks ✅

    • We built our own moderation machine learning model that now identifies 90% of all inappropriate messages.

    • This complements our mental health machine learning model that identifies 95% of all comments asking for help.

    • We recruited two new moderators and have a robust training process for them.

  • Automatically report key impact to each staff member and volunteer ❌ (33%, moved to Q2)

  • Automate our mentorship program onboarding ✅

  • Fully delegate all BTS program engagement activity to MEAs ❌ (onboarding overhaul took 2X longer than anticipated, moved goal to Q2)

• Make HeartSupport worthy of a $1m investment

  • Increase recurring donations by $14k/mo ❌ ($5k of $14k increase)

    • In process, acquired funding for and board approval to hire a Director of Development

    • 150 applications, 25+ interviews in 3-stage process, and candidate selected - Shelbi!

  • Launch an email marketing funnel ❌ (10 of 60 emails written; moved to Q2)

  • Launch a PR campaign announcing the merger of HS & BTS ✅

  • Achieve BBB accreditation ❌ (8 of 20 items completed; moved to Q3)

    • Added Shawn Rodriguez to our Advisory Board, who acquired a 4-week sabbatical to assist on this project in Q3

• Validate HeartSupport as a substantial media opportunity for bands

  • Double our YouTube subscribers from 31k to 62k ✅

    • Herculean effort and accomplishment

    • Major impact: majority of requests for support now come from our YouTube channel

    • Major issue: needed more repliers to handle the influx; hired three short-term contractors to help with the surge and focus on recruiting more volunteers in Q2

  • Pilot a new “lyrics text program” for band partnerships ❌ (alpha of tech complete, 33% of lyrics complete, continue in Q2)

Preview of our Q2 goals:

• Build an exceptional volunteer experience

  • Improve the SWAT experience to be full of joy, attention, and recognition, imbuing it with milestones, communication, and a sense of impact (X of 9 SWAT improvement milestones)

  • Fully delegate all BTS program engagement activity to MEAs through robust training, documentation, and management systems (X of 6 BTS improvement milestones)

  • Automatically send each person KPI update messages on Discord with 3-5 core stats related to their role (X of 11 automatic reports)

• Create compelling offers that make people WANT to be involved with HeartSupport

  • Raise $100k at our Mental Health: Challenge Accepted fundraiser in May

  • Drive 90 SWAT volunteer and 90 BTS mentor applications

  • Hire a Director of Development ✅

• Validate HeartSupport as a substantial media opportunity for bands

  • Daily content creation to hit 100k subscribers and celebrate in a meaningful way

  • Pilot a new “lyrics text program” for band partnerships

  • Pilot new on-the-grounds HeartSupport Fest activation elements at Capulet Fest

  • Activate 8 social collaborations with prominent bands (view 1st here)

Story from the Community

As always, we want to celebrate lives that are impacted through our collective work. Watch Brian’s story below to see how HeartSupport helped him through a depressive season in his life: