More than 1.1 million people in the 18 southeast Texas counties served by Houston Food Bank are considered food insecure, meaning they lack consistent access to enough nutritious food to fuel a healthy life. In order to address this issue, the Houston Food Bank distributes food and other essentials to those in need through a network of 1,500 community partners. In addition, Houston Food Bank also provides programs and services aimed at helping families achieve long-term stability including nutrition education, job training, health management, and help in securing state-funded assistance.
“We’ve had to work with a quickness and efficacy to reach out to those who need us most. The easiest way for people to donate and find their closest food location is to turn to the web. The Grant gives us the opportunity to reach people and provide them with the right information.”
-Jessica Dominguez, Annual Giving Manager, Houston Food Bank
Houston Food Bank’s Grant saw:
139%
increase in spend
387%
rise in conversions
343
donations made to brand campaign
139%
increase in spend
387%
rise in conversions
343
donations made to brand campaign
The Challenge
Growing need of emergency food assistance
Houston Food Bank has ramped up distribution to continue to meet the drastically increasing need for food assistance as a result of COVID-19’s impact on food insecurity due to school closures, job disruptions, lack of paid sick leave, and other factors. In addition to the increased need, Houston Food Bank has had to immediately alter the business model due to drastic and sudden declines is retail food donations, social distancing limitations on volunteer efforts, and the need for safe, low-contact food distributions.
The Solution
Securing disaster relief budget increase
RKD was able to secure a 100% budget increase ($658/day) for Houston Food Bank’s Google Ad Grant campaign. They were great candidates for a budget increase because they were already using their allotted daily $330 ad credit, and the food bank was actively providing COVID-19 relief and offering resources on their website. We updated the ad copy and sitelink extension copy to use urgent language to express the increased need the food bank is seeing.
Breakthrough
Rise in donation acquisitions
Since the pandemic began in mid-March, Houston Food Bank’s Google Grant has dramatically increased its donation conversions. Ad credit spend has increased by 139% compared to the prior month, and donations have seen a 387% rise.
