ShareTheMeal Improves Fundraising Efforts by Connecting Donors to Causes Through Targeted In-App Videos

ShareTheMeal is a fundraising app that generates donations for people in need as part of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world’s largest humanitarian organization. In their mission to end hunger, ShareTheMeal connects donors to 10 to 15 rotating fundraising causes, allowing them to “share meals” with their donation. Donors can choose which country they want to support or which cause - from emergency support to resilience projects. Each featured fundraising campaign is translated into 14 languages across the app and website to reach as many donors as possible. Causes support people in countries including: Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan, Palestine, Haiti, Sudan, Colombia, Bangladesh, Egypt, Rwanda, Peru, Zambia, the Philippines and Lebanon. WFP staff and global partners provide vital assistance to communities in need.

Fundraising requires a unique donor engagement strategy. The “reward” for the donor is the sense of goodwill derived from helping another person, but donations tend to be infrequent or irregular, often tied to a particular cause or season. The team found that donors weren’t necessarily returning to donate again, with some donors wanting to know more about how their funds would be used. This is where ShareTheMeal saw an opportunity: What if giving felt like it had a clear objective, where donors could see the impact of their fundraising efforts immediately after donationing? ShareTheMeal’s new engagement strategy hinges on building an identity for their donors as “Field Heroes” where they feel closer to the mission.

Fostering retention and engagement by bringing donors into the field

ShareTheMeal’s team was eager to build engagement and retention in the app and drive growth at scale. They sought innovative strategies that would not only generate immediate donations but also contributions and also foster ongoing interest between donors and their cause(s) of choice. The team held a series of ideation workshops and developed a hypothesis — people are more likely to return to the app and donate again if they felt invested in their cause. What’s more, if they associated fundraising with their personal identity, that would stand in as the “reward” for donating. Thus the “Field Hero” concept was born, tapping into the deep emotional connection that comes from feeling like a part of a larger mission.  

ShareTheMeal’s “Field Hero” campaign positioned donors alongside WFP staff in the field, sharing real stories and messages so that donors could see their contributions in action. This allowed donors to see themselves as part of the mission in a more hands-on sense, not merely as financial backers. The campaign created a sense of community and shared purpose among supporters, enhancing their overall commitment to the cause.

The work kicked off with a simple smoke test to determine whether video was viable at scale. They found that they had a wide range of videos already available from social media content, and with the Braze platform’s capabilities, launching this feature required few resources and low engineering costs. After validating setup, ShareTheMeal used custom code to create video in-app messages. From there, the CRM manager could orchestrate the rest of the “Field Hero” Braze Canvas, tailoring messaging to individual donor preferences.

In building a unique narrative for each Field Hero, ShareTheMeal aimed to:

• Increase retention and repeat donations
• Boost engagement across the ShareTheMeal app
• Personalize messaging based on causes and locale

Key components of the strategy include:

• Targeted videos in in-app messaging
• Push notifications with updates about relevant causes

From concept to “Impact Loop”: Bringing the “Field Hero” campaign to life

Since ShareTheMeal began their campaign work with ideation workshops and design, they were ready to act quickly in the implementation phase. The campaign only took a month to deploy, from the first ideation session to full execution. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at how ShareTheMeal built out the campaign.

1. First, the team collected user insights from in-app surveys, user interviews, customer support inquiries, and email questionnaires to gain a better understanding of audience needs and interests. These were made available to all stakeholders present for the next phase, ideation.  
2. From there, cross-functional stakeholders—design, content, marketing, product, engineering—gathered to brainstorm potential campaign approaches. The team settled on a habit loop model they named the “Impact Loop,” centering on triggers and rewards to drive re-engagement. As the campaign concept took shape, they mapped an example customer lifecycle to better visualize gaps and opportunities in their new strategy.  
3. The team built out briefs for content and tech teams based on the campaign design chosen in the ideation workshop. This way the team could scope their work and understand shared deliverables.  
4. At this point, the CRM team took over building out the flows with Canvas, our no-code journey builder. Custom HTML options in Braze allowed the ShareTheMeal team to quickly create and test in-app video messages, validating their assumptions in their ongoing product roadmap. The initial HTML code was developed using B.Layer, later refined with the help of a Braze QA member. Using Braze Connected Content, they were able to dynamically personalize messages across channels based on behavioral data. Messages were based on where the user last donated a user’s last donated goal (or other relevant data point). Later iterations of the campaign featured additional customizations, like dynamic information about goal status, number of meals donated, etc. These optimizations were implemented in phases, resulting in over 600 A/B tests to prove efficacy.  

After deploying each phase of the campaign, ShareTheMeal relied on Amplitude, a Braze Alloys partner, to monitor and analyze outcomes. Since the initial launch of in-app video content, ShareTheMeal has solidified video as a key part of their engagement strategy, iterating the Canvas to inform users of new relevant video content via push notifications and badges.

Videos from the field lead to a massive lift in key metrics

ShareTheMeal’s hypothesis was right: Bringing their donors into the field was a game-changer for engagement and retention. Metrics like session saw a lift of 53% compared to the global control group. With this new strategy they saw a 114% lift on 1-month retention and a 137% lift on 6-month retention compared to the control cohort. KPI wins are only part of the campaign’s success. Not only did the “Field Hero” campaign and “Impact Loop” drive enormous gains across engagement KPIs, working with Braze also improved the team’s efficiency and operational costs. After polling other divisions about output, ShareTheMeal estimates their CRM team of 1.5 people is handling the same workload as a team more than triple their size. The clearest win across the campaign is obvious: delivering much-needed aid to people in need. Empowering donors as “Field Heroes” builds brand trust and retention that continue to deliver on this mission. More personalized, narrative messaging powered by Braze allowed ShareTheMeal to raise millions of dollars since 2021—all of which goes directly to the field and brings ShareTheMeal closer to their goal of ending global hunger. 

We are architects of stories; we do not own the product, neither the writing, nor design. We own the narrative—the structure of the chapters a user goes through on his unique journey.

Jon Genovard

CRM Manager, ShareTheMeal

High engagement leads to higher donations

Personalized messaging through Braze made a huge difference for ShareTheMeal’s success and battle to help combat food insecurity. CRM teams report higher efficiency and less reliance on additional team members. Working on the Braze platform’s adaptable tooling, the team was able to push 600 A/B tests, and constant iteration.  

Key takeaways

1. Walk in your user’s shoes to understand their motivations. Exploring the end-to-end customer journey can illuminate new opportunities for personalization and targeting to build brand equity. ShareTheMeal hypothesized that app users would feel more rewarded by having a stronger connection to the field work, and the user journey exposed ways to enhance that sense of connectivity.  
2. Try new ways to tell your stories. When imagery and text weren’t moving the needle, ShareTheMeal decided to experiment with video rather than continue with existing strategies.  
3. Take risks and learn from them! Constant iteration through A/B tests and phased roll-outs can lead to learnings and greater revenue gains overall. ShareTheMeal released their “Field Hero” campaign in stages and completed over 600 A/B tests before landing on their perfect formula.

ShareTheMeal was the winner of the inaugural Braze for Social Impact Award at Forge 2024. This category recognizes a brand using Braze technology to create positive change and material impact within their respective communities. In addition to being recognized, this award allowed ShareTheMeal to direct a $10,000 grant to a charity of their recommendation, funded by the Braze for Social Impact Fund at Tides Foundation. ShareTheMeal has directed their $10,000 grant to the fight against global hunger.

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