Greater Vancouver Food Bank: Integrated Holiday Campaign

The Greater Vancouver Food Bank provides food to more than 27,000 people each week in Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster. Serving families, children and seniors, the food bank is there to provide support not just for today but for every day going forward – no matter how long or short. The food bank works to empower their members by providing healthy and sustainable food in a dignified manner, plus education and training so that one day these individuals can provide for themselves.

The Challenge

In 2014, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank made the jump to integrate their Holiday Campaign during an already very busy time of year. They found that more and more donors were going online to make their donations and it became very clear that the food bank needed to increase their presence online to meet this growing desire for integrated communication with their house donors and prospects.

The Solution

HMA helped the Food Bank coordinate their first fully integrated holiday campaign in 2014 using direct mail, emails, Facebook advertising and website updates. With similar design elements and the teaser line: “You can turn Christmas from a worry to a joy,” this campaign was a great success coming in 35% ahead of our projected targets. But we knew that there was even more potential for growth and we had only just caught a glimpse of the possibilities.

The Results

Fast-forward to today. From 2014 to 2021, the Greater Vancouver Food Bank has seen a 227% increase in revenue from their Holiday Campaign alone. Online donations account for 73% of the total giving to the 2021 Holiday Campaign which shows the importance of integration. In 2021, HMA and the Greater Vancouver Food Bank worked together to develop four direct mail pieces, a four-part email series with varying segments and testing, Facebook posts and a designated landing page/donation page. In 2021 we have surpassed our targets and we look forward to what the future brings for this campaign.