The Challenge
When 2020’s BLM protests began following George Floyd’s murder, Seattle chef and activist Jude Watson found themself laid off and feeling an urgency to help. Watson rallied their culinary community to launch Cooks for Black Lives Matter, a nonprofit using monthly CSAs to move money toward Black-led organizing. The organization only had a shoestring budget, but knew it needed to reach consumers and donors alike to carry on – and thus, Cooks for BLM engaged my support for an 8-week media blitz.
The Strategy
With a short timeline, we worked to tell Cooks for BLM’s story to local editors and reporters, underscoring the importance of the organization’s mission and shining a thought-leadership spotlight on founder and director Jude Watson. To further expand our reach and impact, we also held a nationally-reaching “Hungry For Justice” summit, teaching attendees how to create similar organizations in their own communities using Cooks for BLM’s business model.
The Results
8 Weeks | 4 Feature Stories | 9 Media Hits | 11.9M Impressions | 1 “Hungry For Justice” Virtual Summit | Doubled Instagram Following
(and sold-out CSAs in under 24hrs + an influx of new donors)
Securing nine media hits with four feature stories in total, our eight-week campaign exceeded all expectations — and the impact was immediately felt by the Cooks for BLM team. In addition to the organization’s next two CSA boxes selling out almost instantly, the team experienced a slew of proactive outreach from local restaurants, chefs and farmers seeking to contribute their time and products to upcoming CSAs, allowing Cooks for BLM to focus on fundraising and project development vs. finding donors. As a result of our media coverage, the Cooks for BLM Instagram doubled in size. Additionally, we secured more than 50 RSVPs to our nation-wide educational “Hungry For Justice” summit, bringing together the culinary community and consumers alike to learn how to support racial justice with food.
