Huddle to End Hunger: A Winning Digital Strategy for Food Bank Fundraising

Philabundance is a food bank established in 1984 with the mission of reducing food waste and helping those in need. Annually, it distributes over 50 million pounds of food across nine counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As a member of Feeding America, Philabundance collaborates with local food banks and community organizations to combat hunger nationwide. 

The Situation

For 40 years, community partnerships have helped Philabundance feed food-insecure communities and work toward eradicating hunger. In 2021, Philabundance partnered with Allegiance Group + Pursuant (AGP) to enhance fundraising through extended community networks. 

In recent years, Philabundance has embraced innovative approaches to fundraising, seeking to tap into the passion and pride of Philadelphia’s sports fans to rally support for their mission. After seeing strong community engagement and impressive results from their Strike Out Hunger campaigns with the Phillies, Philabundance recognized an opportunity to build on that momentum. With the Philadelphia Eagles heading to the NFL championship game in 2023, the organization partnered with AGP to create a bold, sports-themed digital fundraising campaign that would energize donors, attract new supporters, and spotlight hunger relief on a national stage. That opportunity became the first Huddle to End Hunger campaign, marking the start of a high-impact, multi-year fundraising challenge that combines digital strategy, local pride, and friendly competition. 

The Work

Building on that momentum, this year’s Huddle to End Hunger campaign was powered by a robust, multi-channel strategy designed to engage passionate Philadelphia sports fans and convert that energy into meaningful support for hunger relief. Together, AGP and Philabundance executed a full-funnel digital effort to maximize reach and response. 

Targeted paid social ads served as the foundation of the campaign, focusing on custom-built audiences of Philadelphia sports fans. These audiences were identified and refined for high engagement, outperforming the industry standard ROAS benchmark by three times. Paid social campaigns extended this reach on Facebook and Instagram, leveraging visually dynamic creative and messaging that tied directly to the excitement of the big game and the friendly rivalry with a local Kansas City food bank. 

To further drive conversions, AGP and Philabundance deployed email appeals with creative donation asks tied to jersey numbers of beloved Eagles players. SMS text messages offered timely, action-driven nudges in the final days of the campaign. The website featured custom lightboxes and a tailored donation form built specifically for the challenge, streamlining the giving experience. Organic social content was boosted throughout the campaign period to maintain momentum, while the inclusion of Eagles legend Brian Dawkins in the creative gave the campaign added authenticity, reach, and emotional impact. 

The Results

The Huddle to End Hunger campaign delivered exceptional results, proving the power of a well-executed, sports-driven digital strategy. By aligning creative storytelling with strategic targeting, Philabundance was able to engage a passionate audience, activate new donors, and generate significant revenue to support its mission.

• Philabundance continued its dominant run since it began leveraging sports-themed fundraising challenges two years ago, raising more than 6x more revenue than their rival food bank during the week leading up to Super Bowl LIX.
• During the 2025 NFL Playoffs, across all digital channels, gifts increased 35.1% YoY, along with a 61.7% YoY increase in new-to-file digital donors.
• The Huddle to End Campaign delivered a $13.35 return on ad spend across all digital channels. 
• Paid Social campaigns delivered a $54.15 cost-per-acquisition across Prospect audiences, outperforming the $95 industry CPA by over 75%, while generating hundreds of new donors.
• Paid Social ads also generated over 750,00 video plays, and over 350,000 post engagements, including over 17,000 post reactions and nearly 400 post shares.