The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina

The Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina PUBLIC PHASE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN

INTRODUCTION

The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (FBCENC) provides food to food-insecure families, children and seniors while working toward an overarching solution to eliminate hunger in the region. The Food Bank developed a network of more than 900 partner agencies including soup kitchens, food pantries and shelters via distribution facilities in several locations throughout the state.

The Able&Co. team had a longstanding relationship with the Food Bank as donors and participants and also had developed work for previous initiatives. The success of these projects led us to working with them on their capital campaign.

SITUATION

The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina was in the process of moving into a new, larger distribution center that included a community health department and teaching kitchen. Unlike the prior building, the new property is highly visible due to its ideal location near Capital Blvd. within a transforming area that leads into downtown Raleigh. The new building also featured 10,000 additional square feet of commercial cooler and freezer space, 20,000 additional square feet for dry food storage, five more loading docks and the capacity for 20,000 additional hours of volunteerism.

The organization quickly realized their need to raise funds for this venture. In order to meet their fund-raising goal, they needed to engage existing donors by encouraging additional funding for the expansion, but they also needed to broadcast their message, mission and need to gain new donors.

Able&Co. met with the campaign committee to develop a creative strategy to take the capital campaign to the public. The objectives were to focus efforts on raising funds for the remaining campaign goal which neared $5 million. We asked the existing donor base of corporations for a gift of $25,000 and above, while we aimed to ask individuals for gifts of $10,000 and above. It was also our objective to create awareness to new donor prospects.

STRATEGY & CONCEPT

The team created a two-component approach to the capital campaign to bring the public phase of the campaign to life. The campaign was designed to lead up to the grand opening of the new facility.

Fundraising Campaign– The public-facing campaign highlighted the services the organization provided, and the community’s growing need. The call to action invited everyone to help the Food Bank meet the goals of the campaign and make the new facility a reality.

Community Open House– The Community Open House events were designed to bring the public into the new Food Bank facility to understand how their donations were being used, and also experience the additional needs the extended campaign was covering.

Able&Co. built off the “So All May Eat” concept that had driven the private campaign, and developed and implemented the “Take a Seat” concept. It was built on the idea that everyone is welcome to take a seat at the table when it comes to helping the hungry, emphasizing that we “all have a role to play, big or small.” The concept relayed a community-focused message that the Food Bank belongs to everyone, encouraging all to donate, volunteer, or receive food. The “Take a Seat” concept was also used in material promoting the Community Open House, expanding upon the farm-to-table movement, highlighting the journey of needed food from farm to food bank to recipient.

IMPLEMENTATION

Our goal was to reach both existing donors and new donors through specific tactics that each served a different purpose:

Audience-Specific Brochures: A series of trifold brochures, each slightly differentiated to reach a specific audience: Corporations, Church Organizations and the Community-at-Large. These brochures encouraged increased giving from these groups.

Direct Mail: Direct Mail options had two different back messages depending on the audience. One promoted additional giving, the other served as a “save the date” invitation for the Open House event.

E-Blast Series: The first email highlighted the giving portion and the ask, building up to the event. The second served as a digital invitation to the Community Open House event with a secondary message to pledge long- term giving.

Microsite: The campaign microsite made it easy for visitors to donate, RSVP for the Open House event or sign up to stay connected. There were also links to the Food Bank main site to learn more about the mission and services of the organization.

Infographic Floorplan: This image was used in promotional material and as a display at the Community Open House events. It highlighted many of the services and benefits of the Food Bank by showing where in the new building they would be taking place. These included areas designated for volunteer work, the area where food items would be stored and areas where classes would be taught.

Radio Spot: A radio spot script featured statistics and a call to action to donate on the microsite.

Event Invitation: The printed invitation to the Open House events was a unique die-cut table that was able to stand on its own underscoring the campaign message to “Take a Seat.”

Results

The capital campaign successfully exceeded the Food Bank’s fundraising goal. In addition, we provided the Food Bank with a brand system they continued to use until their 2019 rebrand.