Case Study

No Kid Hungry: Thanking Our Hunger Heroes

Amplifying a culture of gratitude, one supporter at a time.

Assignment

During the early months of 2020, Situation worked alongside Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry team to share messages of help and hope on their social channels in response to increased national attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. While their mission to end childhood hunger became increasingly urgent and No Kid Hungry was fielding a higher volume of informational inquiries on their social channels than ever before, it was important to the organization that they show their appreciation for the thousands of “Hunger Heroes” who offered support during this critical period of crisis. We created a plan to embody No Kid Hungry’s culture of gratitude by helping them to personally say “thank you” to their supporters—and not just a special few.

Solution

We extended the organization’s value of creating human, authentic connections with all of their supporters through a seven-day outreach campaign, personally thanking more than 6,000 supporters across social media. Our primary objectives, beyond emphasizing the No Kid Hungry culture of gratitude, were to deepen the connection between No Kid Hungry and their supporters and to drive awareness of the organization and its COVID-19 response. To achieve these awareness and engagement goals, we focused our approach on a direct outreach campaign.

The elements of our direct outreach efforts were simple and scalable. We drafted personalized posts and direct messages to share across Twitter and Instagram with donors, chefs, and volunteers, as well as influential and everyday voices raising awareness for our cause, thanking them for their support and using the hashtags #NoKidHungry and #ThankAHungerHero. To enhance some of our posts and deliver on the authentically human connection we wanted to establish with our supporters, we attached video messages from a range of No Kid Hungry’s team members that accompanied our written thanks. 

To quickly expand the reach of our messages, we called on our team of community managers to bring this campaign to life. Over the course of seven days, we sent direct messages and tweets to thousands of hunger heroes, engaging with many of them in real-time. As our messages went out, we reached supporters of all kinds—from celebrities, micro-influencers, small businesses, and local brands to food workers, on-the-ground volunteers, chefs, and everyday people—who had stepped up to help No Kid Hungry’s mission in their own ways. While the hundreds and then thousands of people and organizations we reached with personal messages grew more diverse with each passing day, one core message shone through across social channels: the power of our community comes from the shared strength of our Hunger Heroes.

Results

Celebrities, organizations, brands, and the general public expressed gratitude and pleasant surprise in response to their personal thank you messages through likes, shares, and replies across social platforms. Some of the key statistics we saw as a result of our campaign included:

  • Earned Impressions: We saw more than 2M earned, organic impressions on Twitter and reached out to more than 6,000 supporters across all social platforms.
  • Hashtag Usage: #ThankAHungerHero was used more than 11,000 times on Twitter alone.
  • Influential Replies: Celebrities and organizations that replied had a combined total of 59,836,168 social followers. Some examples of influential responses are included below.
  • Social Growth: Total followers grew by +4,457 in the 7-day period across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This is a +28% increase compared to the previous week.
Screenshot of a quote tweet from Donnie Wahlberg. The original tweet is a tweet from No Kid Hungry to Donnie Wahlberg that reads Thank you SO MUCH for all of the incredible work you and @NKOTB have done to help spread the word about childhood hunger. Your House Party support has helped ensure kids get the meals they need while schools are closed! Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero. The quote tweet from Donnie Wahlberg reads I’m honored and humbled. Prayer hands emoji. Red heart emoji. Though, all the thanks goes to you and to all those who generously made the decision to support hashtag House Party and fight hunger. Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero.
Screenshot of a quote tweet from Adam Richman. The original tweet is a tweet from No Kid Hungry to Adam Richman that reads Adam, we wanted to say thanks a million to you for supporting hashtag No Kid Hungry by serving as Emcee of the New York No Kid Hungry dinner. Your support has helped us reach even more folks about the importance of ending childhood hunger. Thank you! Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero. The quote tweet from Adam Richman reads I’m speechless. Thank you!
Screenshot of a quote tweet from Barbara Diaute. The original tweet is a tweet from No Kid Hungry to Barabara Diaute that reads Thank you so much for donating, Barbara. Your support has helped make it possible for hashtag No Kid Hungry to send over 12 million dollars in emergency grants to the amazing schools and community groups feeding kids. Thank you! Orange heart emoji. Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero. The quote tweet from Barbara Diaute reads You’re very welcome! I’d like to increase my monthly donation. Please post a link! Thank you!
Screenshot of a quote tweet from Danica Roem. The original tweet is a tweet from No Kid Hungry to Danica Roem that reads Thank you for helping highlight the issue of childhood hunger, Danica. Thank you for being there for hungry kids across the country. Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero. The quote tweet from Dania Roem reads Aww, thank you so much for your kind words—more importantly—your advocacy, @nokidhungry and @nokidhungryVA. I’m grateful to have great local partners in our schools from @PWCSNutrition and @theadamrusso, the people serving meals @MPCSVA and our local food pantries too.
Screenshot of a quote tweet from Victoria Justice. The original tweet is a tweet from No Kid Hungry to Victoria Justice that reads Thank you for helping highlight the issue of childhood hunger as the host of @Nickelodeon’s Kids Choice Awards. Thank you for being there for hungry kids across the country, Victoria. The quote tweet from Victoria Justice consists of an orange heart emoji.
Screenshot of a quote tweet from Steve Aoki. The original tweet is a tweet from No Kid Hungry to Steve Aoki that reads Today we’re thanking all those who have helped raise awareness around the importance of connecting kids with the meals they need, including YOU. Thank you, Steve! Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero. The quote tweet from Steve Aoki reads so happy to help. Prayer hands emoji. Please reach out to @nokidhungry if u have the means to get involved.
Screenshot of a quote tweet from Jackie DeCarlo. The original tweet is a tweet from No Kid Hungry to Jackie DeCarlo that reads Thank you SO MUCH for all of the incredible work you’ve done to help spread the word about childhood hunger, Jackie. Your support has helped ensure kids get the meals they need while schools are closed! Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero. The quote tweet from Jackie DeCarlo reads This was super cool to see and a boost to my day. I share the superpowers with @MannaFoodCenter staff. Hashtag thank a Hunger Hero.