For this post, we’ll develop a measurement plan for Second
Harvest Heartland (SHH) – a hunger relief non-profit that works closely with
GMI.
Having just recently spent a day packing and distributing
care packages to the needy along with Second Harvest, I feel that they are the
perfect candidate for this post.
According to KDP, there are six steps that are vital to
measurement in a non-profit environment, they are:
1.
Use Your Mission to Define Your Objectives
a.
According to SHH’s website, their mission is to
“end hunger through community partnerships.”
i. As
we cab see, much of what KDP discusses in the chapter pertain to this mission.
It will be absolutely vital for an organization like SHH to ensure that they
maintain top quality relations with their constitutes and publics.
ii. As
KDP suggests, SHH may want to measure % increase in donations, % increase in
media coverage, % increase in volunteers, etc.
2.
Identify and Prioritize Your Audiences
a.
Here, you’ll want to identify stakeholders
ranging from new and active members, to those that have been dormant for a
while. For SHH, their audience is two
fold – firstly, they need an active and willing volunteer base (which they can
easily find through all of the major corporates like GMI in the area).
Secondly, they require a base of hungry, impoverished Americans to serve –
which, unfortunately is also rather easy to find.
b.
The organization can easily encourage
volunteerism by using e-mail, television, and social media marketing, as well
as radio, newspapers, and other outlets. The organization also leverages
corporate HR departments that encourage volunteerism from their employees (i.e.
GMI) to further widen their volunteer base.
3.
Establish Benchmarks
a.
Much as GMI compares itself to competition in
the CPG sector, so too should SHH in non-profit. This could easily be
accomplished by selecting a similar organization (i.e. Gleaners), and comparing
results, measurement techniques, etc. Both companies could easily share
efficient techniques, as well as the knowledge they've acquired as to “what
works,” and what doesn't.
4.
Pick Your Metrics
a.
Since SHH’s mission is to end hunger through
community partnerships, one of the most important things for them to measure is
the sheer strength and quality of those relations. For example, SHH has a very
strong and valuable relationship with GMI in that we have a ready and willing
volunteer base (more than 83% of our U.S. employee base volunteers regularly),
and we happen to manufacture both shelf-stable and canned goods.
b.
The quality of this relationship is measured
each and every time one of our employees donates time to SHH through an
electronic survey. The survey asks questions pertaining to the likability of
the experience, if you felt the sense that you “made a difference,” if you
would do it again, and how likely you would be to encourage friends and family
to donate time to their cause. Using surveys like these, SHH can ensure their
key relationship with GMI grows stronger, as well as react to changes in
sentiment or perceived negative experiences.
5.
Pick a Measurement Tool
a.
As I mentioned earlier, SHH uses
post-experience, e-mail based electronic surveys as their measurement tool of
choice.
6.
Analyze Results and Make Changes
a.
I can say this – SHH makes sure that
volunteering with their organization is one of the most rewarding experiences
you’ll ever have. You work with hundreds of dedicated volunteers from around
Minnesota, packing warehouses full of donated food. It’s a day of fun,
conversation, and collaboration.
No doubt, some of the cheerfulness of the experience comes from the
post-experience surveys they’ve done, and the feedback (+ and -) that they have
received through them. After my experience with them this year, I know I’ll be
back – and personally, I hope they don't change a thing. J
References:
http://www.2harvest.org/site/PageServer?pagename=aboutus_mission
Hi Joshua, Where do they get the money or food? Does that also come from the volunteers or are they separate groups of people? Do the corporations donate the $ or food?
ReplyDeleteBoth. SHH does accept donations from volunteers (in both food and cash form). They also have established partnerships that they leverage with major Twin Cities companies like GMI for both manpower and food resources.
DeleteI know our charity wing is the one that does most of the coordination with volunteers and supplies for them -- if you ask me, we're the perfect match :-)
I think their second audience in terms of PR might be the audience that gives them donations (food & $) -- I'm not sure how many hungry people turn to advertising to figure out where to get food.
ReplyDelete