Rise Against Hunger
Updated: Mar 30, 2021
SAMPLE PIECE WRITTEN FOR PRL 1180
Introduction
A man by the name of Ray Buchanan, a United Methodist minister, decided it was time to take a stand against those malnourished. In 1988, Buchanan founded the Rise Against Hunger organization after joining the effort to save the lives of food insecure Ethiopians during the famine of the 1970s. Rise Against Hunger states on their website that, “Education and awareness are the first steps to understanding and solving any issue — and world hunger is no different” (Who). By simplifying their mission to empowering communities, nourishing lives, and responding to emergencies, this organization connects passionate volunteers with the communities they serve worldwide. Rise Against Hunger's meal packaging program provides the opportunity to package dehydrated, high protein, and highly nutritious meals that are used in school feeding programs for schools and orphanages in developing countries around the world (Who). Another project this organization takes on is helping in times of crisis, whether that be natural disasters or man-made issues, such as transitioning political situations. Additionally, Rise Against Hunger has programs that promote improved agricultural methods, business skills, and market access (Who).
When it comes to talking about competitors to an organization that is trying to help feed individuals around the world, no one wants to acknowledge that fact that competition is bad. Looking at logistics, Rise Against Hunger has been rated by Charity Navigator for 17 years and receives three out of four stars (Rating). However, an organization such as Feeding America, is the most popular nonprofit organization for feeding individuals in need. Another close competitor is Children’s Hunger Relief Fund, which was founded in 1991 and has the similar goal to feed, aid, connect, and equip others with essential items.
Recommendations
With an organization such as Rise Against Hunger, a nonprofit organization trying to take on the task of a worldwide dilemma, it’s important to have an online presence. Taking a look at this group and their website, it seems that a lot of time and organization went into creating it. Rise Against Hunger’s website is very well laid out, along with tabs for what they do as an organization, why they chose to tackle hunger, an area to learn how to get involved, and a donate button located at the top. Looking at other social media, such as Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, we see similar characteristics of organizational information. Rise Against Hunger’s presence on Instagram is very professional and unison. Their highlight reels at the top of their account include up to date information, along with matching cover photos that are very appealing. As for the Facebook and LinkedIn pages, they seem to be mirroring posts made to Instagram, with the added element of links for more information, which strongly utilizes what these platforms are best for.
Some PR-principle based recommendations that might enhance Rise Against Hunger’s online presence is to use Instagram stories to their advantage. According to Social Insider, “An Instagram story study shows that posting up to 5 stories per day keeps retention rates to over 70%” (Lorzan). By posting daily stories such as, “Meet X Volunteer,” hosting Q&A polls, or quick, weekly information recaps. Another way to enhance engagement would be to create a TikTok account, a platform that has more than 33 million downloads, with a demographic of individuals between the ages of 16 and 24 (TikTok). Lastly, a recommendation to boost online presence is to lighten a dark topic by hosting a creative contest. A creative contest could be open to anyone to create a specific topic of content for Rise Against Hunger’s social media, and the top participants could win prizes such as gift certificates or merchandise.
To meet the recommendation of taking Rise Against Hunger’s Instagram account and using the “story” feature to its full advantage, our goal would be to get followers more engaged, while also keeping them up to date on current events in the organization. For this specific idea, the primary audience is those already following this Instagram account, people who want to get involved and don’t know how, and other nonprofits.
Breaking Down A Plan
Goal: The Rise Against Hunger organization would accomplish higher numbers of interaction by posting daily Instagram stories to their page, such as a Q&A.
The primary audience will be those interested in learning more about Rise Against Hunger and have questions about wanting to get involved, what they are currently doing as a group, etc.
SMART OBJECTIVES
Measurable: In order to measure how interactive this plan is, the group of individuals that run the Rise Against Hunger Instagram can utilize the features as a “business account” to see how many followers they are reaching (view) and how many individuals actually respond in a Q&A question box.
Relevant/Realistic: By using a response box on an Instagram story posted by Rise Against Hunger, we are able to use real time questions and post quick responses for those wanting to be informed.
Strategy: The strategy for gaining more engagement through Rise Against Hunger’s Instagram is to be more personable and listen to what followers are most interested in. By posting fun, relatable stories on Instagram, individuals will most likely continue to check back on this page daily.
Tactics: Tactics for this will include responding to every question submission and making informational posts weekly, driving the traffic of page visits up, and in turn gaining more followers.
Conclusion
As a conclusion to Rise Against Hunger’s online presence, this organization has done a wonderful job. However, with recommendations to use every social media platform for their specific specialty, such as using Instagram stories more often, creating a Tik Tok where many other companies are joining, and more, this nonprofit may be able to continue to grow their population.
References
Lozan, T. (2021, February 18). Socialinsider's Instagram Stories Study 2020: How to drive results. Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/instagram-stories-research-2020/
No one can thrive on an empty stomach. (n.d.). Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://www.feedingamerica.org/
Rating for Rise Against Hunger. (n.d.). Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6530
Tankovska, H. (2021, January 28). Number of social media Users 2025. Retrieved March 05, 2021, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/
TikTok by the Numbers (2021): Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts. (2021). Retrieved 6 March 2021, from https://www.omnicoreagency.com/tiktok-statistics/
Who We Are. (2020, September 28). Retrieved March 08, 2021, from https://www.riseagainsthunger.org/who-we-are/
Comments