Food for Thought: How Food Banks Have Grown their Revenue with Monthly Giving Programs

A record number of Canadians are turning to food banks due to the country’s escalating cost of living. Food Banks Canada’s HungerCount 2023 has reported that in March 2023, there were almost 2 million visits to food banks across Canada. This represents a 32% increase compared to March 2022, and a 78.5% increase compared to March 2019. In their 2023 Who’s Hungry report, Daily Bread and North York Harvest food banks has announced another record year, with a 51% increase in food bank usage in Toronto.

With rapidly increasing demand, there is growing pressure on food banks to increase the effectiveness of their fundraising. A survey by hjc discovered that while many food banks have seen an increase in one-time gifts over the past few years, very few are getting monthly donations. Meanwhile, monthly donations cut down on administrative costs and provide a steady and predictable flow of revenue each month, making them far more effective than one-time gifts. Study after study has demonstrated that monthly donors have higher lifetime value than one-time donors.

Telefundraising is one of the most effective methods for converting one-time donors into monthly contributors. Proposing a monthly commitment to donors can be a difficult ask due to its longer-term nature. However, Stratcom’s skilled callers specialize in quickly establishing strong connections with supporters, building trust, and addressing their concerns about monthly giving. This personalized approach is the key to successfully converting donors into committed monthly supporters.

In January, we hosted a webinar to explore how some food banks have grown their revenue with monthly giving programs. Our panel of fundraisers discussed how monthly giving revenue has impacted their food banks’ funding and we examined different strategies and approaches to growing monthly giving programs. Watch our webinar replay below to hear about the fundraising opportunities food bank fundraising experts are turning to in order to meet today’s funding challenges.