ABLEnow Campaign Breaks Initial Benchmark Goals at Launch

• September and October 2019 both beat previous year’s records for account growth.
• Compared to August 2019, September had a 16% lift in new accounts and October had a 28% lift.
• October 2019 was the strongest month in ABLEnow history for account growth.
• 99% of campaign traffic generated to the ABLEnow website were new visitors.

For far too long, people with disabilities have not been able to save for their future out of fear of losing their public benefits for income, health care, food and housing assistance. To qualify for such programs, individuals with disabilities typically must keep their savings, retirement funds and other monies to less than $2,000.

Thanks to advocate efforts to change this requirement, the federal ABLE Act passed and the national ABLEnow program was approved and created launched, allowing people with disabilities to achieve more independence, greater financial security and a better quality of life through financial savings. Today, eligible individuals can save and invest in a simple, affordable and tax-advantaged ABLEnow account without jeopardising their eligibility for certain benefits that are critical to their health and well-being, such as Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).

“Sadly, many people who are disabled have been scared to save for their future because they risk losing much-needed benefits,” noted Kelly Reci, one of the campaign’s more influential contributors, with more than 194,000 followers. “It’s hard to find a way to encourage your disabled child to save for their future when it puts them at risk for losing many of the benefits they need to survive.”

To help the power and impact this new financial tool can have on real lives, ABLEnow tapped Sway Group to harness the power of its 28,000+-member influencer network to find just the right voices to spread the word to their followers. The Sway Group campaign combined posts from 10 influential bloggers, along with video deliverables and amplification on social platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

“This is a very important program that more people need to know about,” said Melody Forsyth, another Sway Group influencer who helped contribute to the 44,100 total campaign engagements. “I’m happy providing valuable information like this to families."

“A lot of my personal friends thanked me for sharing this program with them,” added Mandy Feld. “I received messages from my fellow special needs parents and individuals. They are going to sign up for themselves and their children.”