Food Bank of the Rockies
Building Momentum: How a Media Tour Helped Food Bank of the Rockies Drive Donations and Awareness
Challenge
After nearly two decades in a building they had long since outgrown, Food Bank of the Rockies was facing increasing pressure: as the local population surged and the cost of living climbed, more community members were turning to them for reliable access to nutritious, familiar food. At the same time, reductions in federal support programs meant even more families relied on Food Bank of the Rockies. To meet this rising demand, Food Bank of the Rockies determined they needed to open a larger, more efficient distribution center that would consolidate operations, expand volunteer capacity and strengthen food sourcing and community partnerships. With 85% of their ambitious capital goal already raised through early in-kind and philanthropic support, Food Bank of the Rockies needed a clear, compelling strategy to launch the campaign publicly—and motivate the broader community to help close the final 15% gap. They partnered with GroundFloor Media to plan and execute a media-forward approach that would raise awareness, energize supporters and position the new facility as a vital investment in the community.
Approach
To help Food Bank of the Rockies publicly launch the public phase of its capital campaign, the GroundFloor Media team organized a “hard hat tour” of the new facility for local media. The goal was to offer an exclusive, in-depth look at the construction site while demonstrating the urgent community need driving the expansion while inviting the public to help close the final 15% needed to reach the campaign goal. We designed the event with storytelling in mind, placing spokespeople at key stations throughout the building to highlight improvements in operations, volunteer capacity and the expanded kitchen. Our team supported event logistics and media relations, including invitations to local print, broadcast and radio outlets, as well as preparation of media materials, content and a detailed run of show. We also coordinated onsite photography, secured morning show interviews and landed exclusive stories with top-tier outlets—turning a construction tour into a compelling community call to action.
“Partnering with your team on this initiative has been nothing short of amazing. Thank you for the dedicated time and effort you put into making the media event a success and for helping us spread the word about our mission to nourish even more people for decades to come through our new distribution center. I truly can’t express enough how grateful Food Bank of the Rockies is for GroundFloor Media!”
Joanna Wise
Press Relations Manager at Food Bank of the Rockies
Results
The event generated widespread media coverage across the Denver metro area, with all major outlets featuring the announcement, including KUSA, KMGH, KDVR (as well as Great Day Colorado), KCNC, Aurora TV, Telemundo, Univision/Entravision, KOA Radio, The Denver Post, Denver Business Journal, Denver Gazette, Colorado Community Media, Front Porch and Rocky Mountain PBS. This led to the community expressing interest or making donations—including one-time gifts of $50,000 and $100,000—demonstrating the strength of the event’s messaging and call to action. The campaign drove a surge in web traffic, the addition of new monthly donors and overwhelming demand from the community and donors to tour the new space. The clarity and poignancy of the messaging not only helped drive immediate results but also gave the development team lasting momentum, setting the team up for success in the new building.
