Case Study: Marketing & Brand Strategy for Human Services Nonprofit

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The Challenge

Feeding America is the nation’s largest hunger relief organization, partnering with a network of food banks, food pantries, meal programs, and state associations to help millions access the resources and support they need. After a strategic transformation process, the organization recognized that its existing brand identity no longer aligned with its evolving mission, values and ambitions.

The previous brand lacked:

• Messaging and voice that reflected the organization’s commitment to keep neighbors at the center of all they do
• A clearly defined Brand Purpose, Promise, and voice aligned to strategic priorities
• Communications tools to align the organization and mobilize public support
• A unified, single-source Brand Book
  

Feeding America engaged Prosper Strategies to lead a comprehensive brand strategy and brand book refresh — rebuilding everything from voice, tone, and messaging to a new brand identity that would resonate with both internal stakeholders and the public. The key directive for this process focused on putting neighbors facing food insecurity at the center, and ensuring their dignity, agency and priorities were reflected in the way Feeding America was showing up in the world.

People

Engaging stakeholders and amplifying neighbors’ voices

To ground the brand refresh in lived experience and organizational insight, Prosper conducted deep stakeholder engagement and primary research:

• Five “neighbor listening sessions” with 47 people experiencing food insecurity — with the intention of centering their voices, experiences, and preferences for how they are represented. Listening sessions were organized based on racial identity and led by identity-aligned facilitators.
• 17 one-on-one interviews with Feeding America executives and leadership team members including the organization’s CEO.
• A survey of food banks who serve on Feeding America’s network advisory council, and a listening session with NAC participants.
• Weekly collaborative workshops with a cross-departmental internal team to ensure internal alignment and co-creation.

These inputs ensured the brand refresh would be built on three foundations: the lived experiences of neighbors, organizational realities, and strategic aspirations — rooted in dignity, agency and equity.

Ultimately, we boiled the research findings down into six key directives that would shape Feeding America’s new approach to marketing and brand strategy:

1. Increase the emphasis on Feeding America’s work to collaboratively address the root causes of hunger as neighbors see them, while staying true to the organization’s history and future in food banking and feeding.

2. Emphasize Feeding America’s focus on addressing disparities in hunger by race and place in a way that does not exclude people.

3. Build brand awareness and affinity by helping public audiences better understand Feeding America’s role in relation to state agencies, food banks and pantries.

4. Center people facing hunger in the refreshed Feeding America brand by positioning them as the heroes in their own stories, describing them in positive, strength-based terms, and focusing on what they need to thrive.

5. Prioritize use of the terms “food insecurity” and “neighbors experiencing food insecurity” when discussing the issues Feeding America addresses and the people Feeding America serves.

6. Build a bolder brand that takes a clear stance on issues related to food insecurity, in alignment with Feeding America’s strategic framework.

Strategy

Reimagining Brand Identity: Purpose, Promise, and Messaging

Based on this research, Prosper helped Feeding America articulate a modern brand identity: a revised Brand Purpose, Brand Promise, updated messaging framework, and brand voice.

• Brand Purpose: “Led by the voices and aspirations of our neighbors experiencing food insecurity, we unite communities to end hunger.”
• Brand Promise: “Together, we’re doing more than keeping food on the table — we’re transforming the structures holding food insecurity in place and helping build an America where everyone can live fuller, healthier lives.”
• A brand voice defined by four traits: Human, Bold, Optimistic, Uniting — aligning with both organizational values and the voices of people served.
• A robust messaging framework for the national organization that articulates how Feeding America supports communities, centers neighbors, and communicates impact with dignity and hope — moving away from deficit-based stigma toward strength-based language.

Building the Brand Book & Communication Guidelines

Prosper Strategies led the development of a modern, comprehensive Brand Book — combining previous brand and style guides into a unified, easy-to-use resource. Included:

• Boilerplate, “How We Support Communities” language, messaging framework
• Strength-based communication guidelines
• Brand voice, mission, vision, visual guidelines (Phase I; with more visual refinement planned in Phase II)
  
• Guidance on how to talk about food insecurity with dignity, respect, and clarity — aligned with neighbors’ expressed needs and experiences

Progress

Bringing the new brand to life internally through training and coaching, and externally through communications campaigns

A modernized brand only drives change when the people responsible for using it are equipped, confident, and supported. To ensure the refreshed brand strategy became an everyday practice — not just a document — Prosper Strategies partnered with Feeding America to guide a robust internal rollout.

Internal Rollout and Strength-Based Communication Training

Once the Brand Book was completed — combining previous brand guidelines, messaging frameworks, and language guides into one unified resource — Prosper worked closely with Feeding America’s Brand & Content Marketing and Communications teams to deliver a nationwide internal rollout.

This included:

A Brand Book Roadshow

• A detailed internal communication plan outlining how teams across the organization would be introduced to the refreshed brand, its purpose, and how to apply it day-to-day.
• Roadshow presentations delivered across internal departments — from Marketing and Digital to Communications, Community Engagement, Development, Equity, and Network Fundraising Services — ensuring staff at every level understood the “why,” “what,” and “how” of the updated brand.
• A comprehensive staff training on the brand voice, tone, core messaging, positioning, and guidelines for representing neighbors’ stories with dignity and accuracy.
• Illustrative examples of the new brand in action, showing how to apply the refreshed voice and messaging in emails, social content, press releases, fundraising materials, and other communication channels.

Strength-Based Communication Training Across the Organization

Because centering neighbors was foundational to the new brand, Prosper also led a series of full-staff Strength-Based Communication Training Sessions for Feeding America’s entire national organization staff to ensure consistency in how Feeding America communicates about neighbors facing food insecurity — both internally and externally.

This training equipped staff with:

• A shared understanding of the difference between stereotype-based, need-based, and strength-based communication
• Clear dos and don’ts for representing neighbors with dignity, agency, and accuracy
• Guidelines about person-first and equity-aligned language
• Real-world examples and reframes, highlighting how to shift from deficit-oriented to strength-based narratives
• Breakout groups and hands-on practice, giving staff opportunities to rewrite real Feeding America communications using the new approach

More than 100 staff members across departments participated — creating a unified foundation for applying the brand voice and strength-based communication with care, consistency and respect. A recorded training was also prepared for new staff members.

By training the entire staff and embedding the new brand tools into daily workflows, Feeding America ensured that every team member — regardless of department — could confidently communicate the organization’s purpose, promise, and impact using the same voice, language and values.

This internal alignment set the stage for a bold public expression of the refreshed brand: The Full Effect PSA campaign.

External Rollout and Campaign Launch: The Full Effect PSA

With the new brand strategy in place, Feeding America — in partnership with The Ad Council and creative agency fluent360 — launched a fully-integrated public service announcement campaign: The Full Effect PSA.

• The Full Effect uses short vignettes to show that when people are fed, their futures are nourished — from everyday joys like a child winning a science fair, to major milestones like graduations and career achievements.
• The PSA reframes food not just as sustenance, but as fuel for potential — aligning deeply with the new strength-based, dignity-centered brand voice.
• The campaign spans broadcast, online video, radio, print, digital, out-of-home media — in English and Spanish — aiming to reach the entire U.S. population, emphasizing an inclusive and multicultural approach.
• The PSA invites audiences to “join the movement to end hunger” — reinforcing the new Brand Promise and purpose with action and hope.

This bold, public-facing activation demonstrates how the refreshed brand can drive both awareness and action, giving the organization a unified, compelling way to communicate its mission to the public.

Results

Thanks to the brand refresh, improved messaging and the launch of The Full Effect campaign:

• Feeding America now operates under a modern, unified brand identity that is more strategic, equity-centered, and consistent across departments and communications.
• The new voice and messaging framework center neighbors, uplift dignity, and offer a strength-based narrative — helping to reframe public perception of hunger and the people impacted by it.
• The Full Effect PSA extends the brand beyond internal guidelines — turning strategy into public storytelling that connects with millions and invites them to act.
• Feeding America’s brand purpose, promise, voice and reason to believe were rated as likely to impact propensity to give by 96% of current Feeding America donors and 82% of all charitable givers.
• These same elements were rated as clear, believable and cohesive by 87%+ of neighbors experiencing food insecurity.
• Contributions and grants grew 17.1% over the two years following the launch of Feeding America’s new brand strategy.