Four Things for Hunger Organizations To Prioritize In This Moment

For food banks and hunger organizations in the United States, 2025 has been a tough year. At this moment, the news cycle is focused on the recent passage of a budget bill in the House that would mean massive cuts to SNAP, which will impact families in need who are already facing rising food and housing prices amid economic uncertainty. As food banks step in to fill this role for their communities, having the resources to meet increased demand will be a major challenge, putting added strain on organizations that were already spread thin due to food insecurity in a tumultuous economy. This follows massive cuts earlier in the year to USDA programs on which food banks had long been reliant.

We hear you on how difficult it’s been, and, in the face of tremendous obstacles, we’re by your side in a shared spirit of finding – and sharing – solutions. This is a critical time for hunger organizations to make sure they’re connecting with their audiences and communicating the urgency of the moment. At MissionWired, we’re seeing the hunger organizations we partner with driving response and critical revenue within their communities in their most recent appeals.

We’re honored to partner with food banks and hunger organizations that are providing vital relief to neighbors across the country to help them ensure they’ve got their very best strategies at work in this challenging moment.

Here are four things we’re recommending hunger organizations prioritize right now to bolster their fundraising efforts:

1. Make the connection – from breaking news to your local community – crystal clear. Food banks across the country are making headlines for the challenges they’re facing in response to federal program cuts, but oftentimes, these focused news stories will have an impact specific to their local community. No food bank is too big or too small to be impacted by the current economic climate, so be sure that your messaging draws a clear line between the challenges of the moment and your specific community. Sharing tangible goals and quantifying impact can help make a difference in providing that connection.
2. Lean into opportunities to grow your audience with new supporters. In moments like this, when the need within your community is so urgent, people who may not have donated to your organization in the past will mobilize in response to your appeals for support.
   
   This makes it a powerful moment to invest in acquisition, and, with data-driven, modeled list growth tools like The Digital Co-Op, you can identify the folks most likely to respond to your specific work and mission. (And we’ve even found The Co-Op to be highly successful at targeting within the limited geographic areas specific to regional food banks.) In moments of acute need, you want to make sure you’re emailing the largest and best audience possible.
3. Try new formats and channels to connect directly with new and existing audiences. If you’ve been looking for the right opportunity to try a new messaging tactic, now is the time. Even if an approach you’ve tried before did not previously perform, we’re seeing that this unique moment of urgency and need is proving impactful for renewing support and acquiring new donors, so you may see a significant shift in results.
   
   Consider longcode SMS – the highest-engagement channel – as an opportunity to connect directly with new audiences, grow immediate revenue, and acquire new supporters to opt into your shortcode broadcast audiences. (Our MissionSMS tool is a great resource for this.) We’ve also found social ads to be performing especially well for our partners lately, with direct-to-camera appeals driving engagement and response.
4. Bring everyone into internal alignment around your direct response messaging. If your programs and advocacy teams traditionally work separately from your fundraising team, you’ll want to collaborate closely to strengthen your case for support in this unique moment. Where are there opportunities to include a fundraising ask or upsell in current programs and advocacy efforts? Are there powerful stories of advocacy and impact being told in those efforts that you can incorporate into direct response communication?

We know that hunger organizations are facing immense pressure and limited resources right now – first and foremost, we want to assure you that we are here to help. If you’d like to chat with one of us more about these strategies, you can reach out to Sheana Barro or Alyssa Ackerman directly. You can also connect with any of our fellow strategy leaders about what’s possible for your unique program. If you want to learn more about the acquisition and targeting resources you can leverage in this moment, our team is always excited to talk growth.