Are you walking the walk, or just talking the talk?

That’s an important question to answer every now and then, especially for us at idfive, a business that is vocal about using its marketing powers for good.

Typically, we say we’re mission-based because of the incredible partners we work with. From universities to nonprofits to healthcare organizations, our clients exist to make a positive dent in the world, and we exist to help them do it.

But, at the end of the day, this is still work. We get paid for the websites we design, the marketing campaigns we execute, and the brands we develop. And we could never claim to have as much an impact on society as our partners do.

That’s why we make it a goal to have a positive social impact outside our work — and one of the reasons why we decided to launch a virtual food drive to support the Maryland Food Bank’s 40-year anniversary and bring awareness to Hunger Action Month.

Using Fenly, the nonprofit’s very own online fundraising tool, idfive developed a month-long virtual food drive and promoted it to our friends, family, and industry relations — resulting in a grand total of $4,400 raised. Looking back at the experience, we have a few thoughts on why every business should coordinate a virtual food drive. Since we’re far from the only business striving to make “social impact” a part of its operational strategy, we think virtual food drives are incredible opportunities to pursue.

6 Reasons Why Your Business Should Do A Virtual Food Drive

It’s for a Good Cause

In just one month, we ended up raising over $4,000 for the Maryland Food Bank, which was rewarding for both our company and our supporters. We attribute much of our success to the ease of the donation platform, which was a unique and user-friendly fundraising platform that was simple to set up and fun for our donors to interact with.

It’s Engaging for Donors

Traditional fundraising for donations is much less engaging than the Virtual Food Drive. Because of Fenly’s “shopping” experience, our donors felt more engaged when picking out something tangible to put their money towards than they would if they were just filling out a credit card form. Additionally, seeing how the donation would be compounded by MFB’s buying power encouraged our donors to contribute more than they might have by giving a direct donation. This is a huge advantage of a virtual food drive.

Brings the Team Together

Organizing, promoting, and executing the virtual food drive really brought our company together for a couple of weeks. Employees who generally work on different teams worked together to like, share, and promote the food drive through their networks. We also were able to build a sense of shared purpose with our colleagues and industry partners, who made up a sizable percentage of our donor base.

Promotes your Business

Having something substantial and meaningful to post about increases engagements across platforms. We had more new followers on LinkedIn and Instagram than any other month this year. Our social media content included videos, emotive images, and conversation-stirring copy that got us interacting with people online.

It’s Simple yet Effective

As a marketing agency, we’re very cognizant of a website’s user experience and are happy to say Fenly is an impressive online tool. Setting up a donation page was very simple and so was the donation process, especially via mobile phone.

It’s Good for Business

“Social impact” may be a buzz word but it is important for businesses these days, with 87% of millennials believing that it should be a part of a business strategy. Partnering with a nonprofit like MFB is a fun and relatively easy way to engage in corporate social responsibility.

Building strong relationships with nonprofits is extremely important for businesses these days. Customers and employees alike want to know how your business is making a positive social impact, whether it’s with an organization such as the Maryland Food Bank or one that you and your customers have a strong connection with.

For idfive, using Fenly to coordinate a virtual food drive for the Maryland Food Bank was a perfect choice. We are deeply committed to supporting our neighborhoods in Maryland and the Maryland Food Bank has been a strong partner for the past few years. We would encourage any company to do the same.