Case Study: Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois
Sector: Nonprofit
Project: Social Media Management, Google Ad Grant Management
Through our partnership with Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois, Sarah Best Strategy was able to maximize their existing Google Ads Grant to bring in 9.37% of donations and 5.47% of volunteers in 2022, with an average conversion rate of 13.38% in 2022 (compared with an average site rate of 4.03%). We additionally brought in 28% of 2022 year-end online donations through Ad Grants. Meanwhile, our expertise in Instagram for nonprofits resulted in a 751.2% increase in Instagram engagements from younger followers interested in donating and volunteering.
The Challenge
Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois is an independent nonprofit that serves much of Chicago and neighboring counties. By providing home delivery and Community Café options, Meals on Wheels of Northern Illinois ensures more than 7,300 seniors are able to continue to live independently in their own homes. Thanks to a large number of active volunteers, Meals on Wheels is also able to provide socialization and wellness checks that are just as critical as their nutritious meals.
When Meals on Wheels approached SBS in the fall of 2021, their staff was working hard to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization had seen both an increase in services and an increase in community members who were stepping up to offer donations and volunteer time.
Meals on Wheels staff wanted to harness that increased charitable interest by bolstering their social media presence and creating strategic Google Ads that would drive traffic to their revamped donation and volunteer web pages. Lacking the extra bandwidth to put their plans into action, they sought SBS's support and expertise.
SBS launched our partnership with Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois soon after, providing monthly social media management and Google Ad Grant management services. Primary goals for our collaboration included:
When Meals on Wheels approached SBS in the fall of 2021, their staff was working hard to manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The organization had seen both an increase in services and an increase in community members who were stepping up to offer donations and volunteer time.
Meals on Wheels staff wanted to harness that increased charitable interest by bolstering their social media presence and creating strategic Google Ads that would drive traffic to their revamped donation and volunteer web pages. Lacking the extra bandwidth to put their plans into action, they sought SBS's support and expertise.
SBS launched our partnership with Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois soon after, providing monthly social media management and Google Ad Grant management services. Primary goals for our collaboration included:
- Increasing the consistency, quality, and frequency of their social media content;
- Engaging younger followers, particularly through their Instagram account;
- Energizing current and potential followers to support the organization through volunteerism and philanthropy; and
- Using an existing Google Ad Grant to increase and track conversions from donor and volunteer pages.
The Idea
We began providing social media management services for the nonprofit's Facebook and Instagram accounts to grow their audience and increase engagement. Working in collaboration with staff on a monthly basis, we crafted posts that went out twice per week, freeing up valuable time for staff to support their growing caseloads and expand their popular café locations.
We have implemented smart strategies to build Meals on Wheels' audiences, utilizing our expertise in helping nonprofits reach new potential followers. These strategies include tagging partner organizations who can help spread the word about not only services, but also volunteering and donation opportunities.
Our focus on Instagram centered on leveraging the platform’s strengths to reach younger audiences. The SBS team researched and began using hashtags specifically related to the organization’s geographic location, volunteerism, and philanthropy. In addition, we brainstormed with the Meals on Wheels team to enhance the images on this visual-first platform, creating more graphic appeal and multiple frames per post to tell broader stories.
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Meanwhile, to maximize use of their existing Google Ad Grant, SBS organized Meals on Wheels' Google Analytics properties, conducted an audit of their website, added tags in Google Ads to help them track conversions, and built several new campaigns in their Google Ad Grant account. These campaigns have focused on raising brand awareness, increasing donations and engaging new volunteers.
At present, SBS continues to manage and optimize Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois's Google Ad Grant. Based on search data, we have also offered suggestions for new content creation and page optimization to increase conversions.
The Results
Since partnering with Meals on Wheels, we have seen increased site traffic and conversions from their Google Ad Grant, as well as substantive growth in audience size and engagement across their social channels. Results include:
- An increase in donations and volunteers: The organization's Google Ads earned 9.37% of donations and 5.47% of volunteers in 2022. Additionally, Ad Grants brought in 28% of 2022 year-end online donations.
- An increase in conversion rates across goals: We saw an average conversion rate of 13.38% in 2022 (compared with an average site rate of 4.03%). Conversions included donations, volunteer applications, newsletter subscriptions, café searches, and contacts for small-group and corporate volunteering.
- An increase in reach and clicks: Between January 2022 and 2023, our Google Ads were seen 1913 times, a 1093% increase over the previous period. We also saw a 1369% increase in clicks during the same time period.
- Growth in social media audiences: We have grown Meals on Wheels' social media audience by 21.3% since we began our partnership in October 2021.
- Increase in Instagram engagements: As an expert in Instagram for nonprofits, our tactics created a 751.2% increase in Instagram engagements during the same time period.
- Top brand awareness in search: As a result of our tactics, Meals on Wheels Foundation of Northern Illinois is currently outranking other local and highly visible Meals on Wheels branches in search results.
