Our promise
This is the thinking behind the ALICE Engagement Survey: what the data shows, why we’re asking families directly, how we protect every answer and what we’ll do with what we hear.
What the data shows
More than 1 in 3 Greenville County families can’t cover the basic cost of living. Most of them are working.
These numbers come from United For ALICE, a research method that counts families who live above the federal poverty line but below what it actually costs to live here. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. The basics it counts are housing, child care, food, transportation, health care and a basic phone plan.
10%
Below the poverty line
23,694 in all
25%
Above poverty, below the cost of basics
58,100 in all
65%
Can cover all the cost of basics
148,5 in all
The cost of basics here is more than twice the poverty line
One adult
Two adults, a baby and a preschooler
Annual costs for Greenville County, 2024. The cost of basics covers housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, a phone plan and taxes. Nothing for savings, emergencies or extras.
Since 2010, the number of Greenville County families above the poverty line but below the cost of basics has grown 48%. The number in poverty has barely moved. Many of these families don’t qualify for most assistance.
Data tells us how many families are stretched thin. It can’t tell us where they get stuck, who they trust or what help is missing. Only families can tell us that.
Why we're asking families
The ALICE Engagement Survey is for Greenville County families who live above the poverty line but can’t yet cover the basics. It asks what makes it hard to get ahead and what would help.
United Way staff built the survey from three sources: United For ALICE research, the Harwood Institute’s approach to public listening and what Greenville Together’s outreach team has learned on the ground. Before launch, local partners reviewed our outreach language, and their feedback changed how we framed the ask.
5 minutes
About how long it takes
13 questions
Short and mostly multiple choice
2 languages
English and Spanish
ONE FOCUS
Families above the poverty line but short of the basics
Survey Questions - English
- Family size, children and ages
- Adults in the family with job income
- Family income range
- How things are going right now
- Handling a surprise $400 expense
- What the last 12 months have looked like
- Whether anyone has turned down more pay or hours
- Whether they’ve tried to get help
- What happened, or why not
- Rent or own
- Whether we can follow up
- Name and email or mobile number (only if they say yes)
- What they wish people understood about their life
A few screening questions come first (ZIP code, family size and income range) so we hear from the families this survey was built for. Age and race or ethnicity questions are optional and come last.
Survey Questions - Spanish
- Tamaño de la familia, hijos y sus edades
- Adultos en la familia con ingresos de trabajo
- Rango de ingresos de la familia
- Cómo van las cosas en este momento
- Cómo cubrir un gasto inesperado de $400
- Cómo han sido los últimos 12 meses
- Si alguien ha rechazado más sueldo u horas de trabajo
- Si han intentado buscar ayuda
- Qué pasó, o por qué no
- Si alquilan o son dueños de su vivienda
- Si podemos comunicarnos con ellos después
- Nombre y correo electrónico o número de celular (solo si dicen que sí)
- Lo que desearían que la gente entendiera sobre su vida
Primero hay algunas preguntas de selección (código postal, tamaño de la familia y rango de ingresos) para asegurarnos de escuchar a las familias para quienes se creó esta encuesta. Las preguntas sobre edad y raza u origen étnico son opcionales y van al final.
Our privacy promise
Families are trusting us with a lot. Here’s how we take care of it.
Answers and names live apart
Survey answers are stored without names, if provided. ALICE Council contact details sit in a separate, restricted file.
Personal questions are optional
Age and race or ethnicity come last,
and anyone can skip them.
Our team does the analysis
United Way staff manage and interpret the data, with help from a vetted review committee.
Contact info is a choice
We only ask for a name, email or phone number if someone says yes to a follow-up, with clear consent language.
A person reads every answer
Every open-ended answer is read by someone on our team. Software never decides what a family meant.
Updates stay general
Internal progress updates share response counts and trends only, never personal information.
We never sell or share individual answers or contact information with anyone.
What we'll do with what we hear
What families tell us will shape how United Way brings people, nonprofits and local leaders together to help families get ahead and stay there.
What families tell us
What it shapes
Where they get stuck
Which challenges we focus on first
Who they call and who they trust
Where families can find help and who we work with to reach them
What help they've tried and what happened
Which resources we connect families to and where gaps remain
What's already working
What we build on instead of starting over
What they wish people understood
How we talk about this work and train our team
The survey is one input alongside United For ALICE data and what we hear from partners. It informs our investment and program decisions without deciding them on its own.
Five phases, each building on the last
1
Listen
The survey runs this fall and the ALICE Council comes together.
2
Design
Findings and Council input shape the approach.
3
Test & Refine
We try ideas with families and partners and adjust.
4
Launch
We put what we’ve built into practice.
5
Scale
We keep listening, report back and grow what works.
Sharing what we learn
After the survey closes, we’ll post a summary of what we heard on this page. Partners who helped share the survey get the full findings report within 60 days. Every report shows totals, percentages and anonymized themes only, and any quotes have names, places and other identifying details removed.
WHERE YOU FIT
If you took the survey
Thank you. Your answers are stored without your name, and a person on our team reads every one.
If you said yes to a follow-up, we may reach out about joining the ALICE Council. Once the survey closes, check back here for a summary of what we heard.
If you're a partner
You’ll get the full findings report within 60 days after the survey closes. Everyone gets the same report, and we’ll walk through it together in a findings session.
- Share unitedwaygc.org/tellus with the people you serve, your staff and your volunteers
- Use our newsletter copy and graphics in English and Spanish
- Email us for posters and flyers for your lobby or break room
- Nominate staff or clients for the ALICE Council
INTERESTED IN THE ALICE COUNCIL
You’re helping decide what comes next. You’ll review early findings and tell us what we got right and what we missed, help test new ideas before they launch and hear from us. weeks.
Want to join? Say yes to follow-up at the end of the survey and we will reach out.
Sources
United For ALICE, ALICE in Greenville County, 2026 South Carolina County Report (2024 data). unitedforalice.org
United For ALICE, 2026 South Carolina ALICE Data Sheet: ALICE Threshold, 2010 to 2024; American Community Survey, 2010 to 2024.
ALICE methodology: unitedforalice.org/methodology. United For ALICE reports figures by household.