Resources
Turning Peaks into Plateaus
Food Assistance Nonprofits Sustaining their Revenue
10 Minute Read
Recent data from 18 hunger/poverty organizations highlighted that even during difficult times, people continued to show how much they care by donating even more - resulting in a
173% increase in revenue
during 2020 compared to the previous year.
a very opportunistic moment for the nonprofit to more fully fulfill its mission. However, along with this Peak moment comes an immediate need for the organization to scale and grow both operationally as well as in its capacity to distribute food to those impacted by the crisis and in need of assistance.
Crises Can Greatly Impact Food Supply and Demand
As crises like Covid-19 occur, food supply chains are impacted and the demand for food increases sharply. So does the need for courageous food-assistance-related nonprofits to raise the funds needed to purchase and distribute food to those in desperate need throughout the world.
Nonprofits Must Harness Revenue Peaks
We view a nonprofit organization’s Peak as something that can appear and disappear quickly, highlighting the need to convert a Peak into a Plateau. This allows for a longer, less volatile period in which nonprofits are able to harness and preserve the newly found momentum to sustain a higher level of operational capacity following the natural timing of a Peak’s decline.
Marketing Innovation Plays a Vital Role
The “S Curve of Business” is a well known model that shows as Peaks reach their crest, it is crucial to focus on innovation to lift up and continue upward growth.
This period of innovation is the key to ensuring that the business doesn’t slump or retreat back to pre-crisis levels.
Prepare Ahead-of-Time for Revenue Peaks
As nonprofit organizations face the volatility and uncertainty of the many aspects of their businesses, it can be challenging to identify the best, most effective ways to innovate leading up to and during Peak moments. This is especially true when crises can dissipate quickly and donations cool off seemingly overnight.
Top 5 Ways Marketing Innovation Helps Prepare Nonprofits for Revenue Peaks
01
Capture customer information and compile a new contact list. Ensure that donor information (email address) is loaded into your CRM or Email Marketing platform
02
Ensure that you are building a retargeting pool that includes new donors and website visitors
03
Have at least basic email automation configured and enabled for automated "Thank you" messaging
04
Pre-build marketing assets (social ads, banners, emails, blog posts) with general/all-purpose (long shelf life) messaging that can be used during Peak (busy) periods
05
Create action plans ahead of time (for content production and campaign deployment) with marketing partners, copywriters, content producers, PR, and social media teams
Top 3 Ways Nonprofits Harness Marketing Following a Revenue Peak
Following a Revenue Peak, pull together new marketing assets and inspiring content in a "What We Accomplished Together" campaign that tells your story - providing detail about your nonprofit organization's role in the recent crisis and the impact you were able to have thanks to your donors' generous contributions. Inspirationally demonstrate how donations were applied and the positive outcomes achieved.
Following a Revenue Peak, pull together new marketing assets and inspiring content in a "What We Accomplished Together" campaign that tells your story - providing detail about your nonprofit organization's role in the recent crisis and the impact you were able to have thanks to your donors' generous contributions. Inspirationally demonstrate how donations were applied and the positive outcomes achieved.
Use other forms of retargeting (display banners and paid social) as well as organic social channels to achieve additional touch points with past donors. As time goes by, ensure that campaign assets are updated and continue to tell the inspirational story made possible by donors' generous contributions.
As a marketing agency that supports nonprofit organizations in the space of food aid and assistance, we understand the delicate balancing act nonprofits go through as they strive to scale up for Peak moments and convert them into sustained Plateaus - which involves anticipating (1) unpredictable crises, (2) changes in the present/future behavior of donors, and (3) the need to deploy and distribute revenue to those in need, all while trying to scale, maintain and train internal staff and other technology resources.
