Digital Communications Strategy for FoodLifeline
Food Lifeline is the largest distributor of donated and rescued food in the Pacific Northwest. Distributing millions of pounds of fresh, high-quality food and household needs to thousands of people across the Puget Sound region, Food Lifeline is committed to their ethos that hunger doesn’t have to happen.
During their re-brand, Food Lifeline contacted the University of Washington for help. Setting up some friendly competition, we broke out into groups to form a mini consulting agency. Each team would pitch their idea to Food Lifeline for a chance to present to the Food Lifeline board and see our research and ideas implemented by the organization.
Background
Foodlifeline participated in a University of Washington graduate-level Communications Leadership class in which groups of students formed mock agencies and competed to win a bid to design a comprehensive digital communications strategy. Our task was to research and address the client’s communications goals and pitch a digital strategy demonstrating a cost-efficient plan. Of the five groups, ours was chosen to present our strategy to the board members and staff of Food Lifeline. What an honor!
Process
We listened carefully to FoodLifeline’s aspirations, business objectives, challenges, and limitations. To inform our content, design, and strategy, our process was as follows:
Discovery
We interviewed Food Lifeline staff, toured the facility, met volunteers, reviewed brand style guide, and assessed the current state of their digital communications. We learned that Food Lifeline’s primary goals were to increase engagement and brand awareness, increase volunteerism, expand partnerships and sponsors and increase donations.
Research
Once familiarized with Food Lifeline’s goals, we built a case study around Charity:Water, an organization that had raised millions online using digital communications strategies. We included this research to inform our recommendations and show evidence of successful implementation.
Recommendations
We built out budget-friendly recommendations that, if implemented as intended, may meet or even exceed expectations. These included key areas such as:
Solution
Segmenting Audiences for Targeted Content
Repurposing and Updating Existing Content
Updating the Website
Strategically Using Social w/Community Management
Results
New Website including elements of our layout, information architecture, and other features.
Strategic use of Social Media increasing engagement across channels.
New ways to measure and present value to the community.