SNAP Promotion & Fundraising Strategies

 

Once you can accept EBT cards at your farmers market, you need both on-site and off-site promotion to let everyone know, as well as funding to keep it going. Promotion and education are key to a successful SNAP program at your market. Educate your audiences (don’t forget this includes your board members, volunteers, and vendors) about the benefits of this program. Join coalitions and become a community partner to groups run by or supportive of low-income people. Seek funding from businesses and organizations that want to be associated with community projects where they can see obvious benefits and highlight them. Below are some options and ideas about how to promote and fund your program.

On-Site Promotion

 

Welcome Signs

Make sure that it is easy to know by looking that your market accepts SNAP. Signage should be visible to potential customers walking or driving by. A photo of Oregon’s EBT card on signage is helpful for shoppers who may not know the name of SNAP.

Centrally Located Point-of-Sale (POS) Sign

This is the most important SNAP sign to have because it indicates where SNAP customers swipe their EBT card to receive market tokens. It should be displayed at the location of the POS machine, which should be centrally located or near an entrance. The sign should read something like, “SNAP accepted here” or “Use your EBT card here“.

Larger markets may want to post signs inside or around the periphery of the market directing customers to the centrally located POS machine.

Vendor Signs

These should be displayed at the stalls of all vendors who can accept SNAP, and say something like, “We gladly accept EBT tokens”. 

  • Vendors should always clearly identify the cost of their products for the ease of all customers.

  • Have a handout for customers explaining how to use EBT cards at the market.

  • Incorporate events into the market day that customers find extra value to experience and participate in (i.e. cooking demos and food tastings, cookbook exchanges, music of all types, kids activities, etc.)

  • Speak to more people by using signage in multiple languages. Be bilingual yourself, and prioritize hiring staff or recruiting volunteers who are. Make sure everyone working at your market understands the benefits of SNAP so that they are excited to promote it and can answer the basic questions about how it works.

 Ongoing Promotion

 

  • All flyers, posters, postcards, pamphlets and mailers you use should include, at minimum, a line that your market accepts EBT/SNAP. With more room you can add details about bringing EBT cards to your info booth to get tokens.

  • Use your social media and e-newsletters to remind customers that they can use their EBT cards at your market. Announce this on a regular basis, not just at the beginning of the season.

  • Dedicate part of your market’s website to letting customers know that using SNAP is welcome at your market, including where to get and how to use tokens. Check out these examples from the Oregon City, Lane County, and Ashland farmers markets. Or, like the Hollywood farmers market, offer a guide to all forms of currency used at your market.

  • Whenever and wherever you are speaking about or promoting your market, include the point that your market accepts SNAP and give information about how to use an EBT card there. Reach out everywhere: business associations, neighborhood or city council meetings, faith-based organizations, food banks, health clinics, partner organizations, schools, arts & culture groups, community centers, libraries, etc.

  • Don’t presume your audience doesn’t include SNAP users. Use language that includes people, for example by saying, “Bring your EBT card to the info booth,” rather than, “SNAP customers can bring their EBT cards to the the info booth.”

  • Set up an incentive or match - programs that subsidize the cost of food for SNAP shoppers are a win-win for SNAP shoppers and your vendors. In Oregon, markets can apply to Farmers Market Fund to join the Double Up Food Bucks program.

  • Look for ways to make the market welcoming. Customers should see a wide variety of products and price points, and be able to buy from vendors who speak languages besides English and are owned by people of color. Make sure food demos offer recipes for lots cuisines and skill levels, that cover simple meals or celebrations, and have portion amounts for one person or many. Schedule musicians of different ages, musical styles, and sound levels. Celebrate holidays beyond the 4th of July or Christmas. Make a point to recognize and expand who is a mom or dad on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Advocate to your city’s transportation department for a bus stop on your market’s block and safe street crossings. Have activities that are interesting to kids and others that are interesting to seniors.

  • Take action further by having your market publicly support legislation, policy, actions, and movements to make sure everyone in Oregon is getting the healthy food they need.

 Funding a SNAP Program

 

Offering SNAP is a financial investment for farmers markets. Staff to run the program, equipment, promotional outreach, and associated market events and activities will all require funding. Even if your market currently benefits from free EBT point-of-sale equipment, eventually those costs need to be covered by your market’s budget.

A common way to cover these operational costs are through transaction “convenience fees” like an ATM fee to customers using their debit/credit cards to get tokens at your market. (Transaction fees are never permitted with SNAP customers, of course!) However, if your market doesn’t offer credit/debit, or it does but most customers use their cards directly with vendors who can accept them, then additional funds need to be sought elsewhere. 

Markets can also sell merchandise (t-shirts, shopping bags, coffee mugs, magnets, stickers, etc.) and direct the profits from the sales to the SNAP program. And don’t forget to put out donation jars! Make it obvious the donations from the merch sale or into the jar go to the market and what they will be used for. The Newport Farmers Market runs a lemonade stand to fund its SNAP program.

Sponsorships are a form of marketing for a business or organization to be associated with your market through a financial or in-kind donation. Common sponsors include: businesses in the market’s neighborhood who want to give back the community, religious groups, non-profit health organizations (such as a hospital), community groups like a neighborhood organization or business association, or local banks or credit unions. Also look for businesses that are directly or indirectly benefiting from the increase in sales. Examples may include farm/farmers market insurance companies or feed stores. Here’s how the La Grande Farmers Market highlights the sponsor of their SNAP match. 

Fundraising events are often centered around meals like pancake breakfasts, ice cream socials, or dinners featuring a well-known chef. With the right crew of people dedicated to the work of organizing and pulling it off, these events can earn a market what’s needed to fund SNAP for a season. Other events could be a weekend where the restaurants/businesses in your area donate a % of their sales to the market, or an author reading and book signing, cooking classes, a silent auction, movie showing or music performance, dessert dash, or trivia night, etc. 

In 2020, taking events online with crowdsource funding may the way to go under restrictions on gathering due to COVID-19. Set up ways for people to make donations through your website or social media. Or perhaps the market’s event committee could become the grant writing committee and search out foundations that support health, food, or agricultural initiatives.

It’s important to understand what type of organization your market is set up as; any market could accept donations, but only those registered with the IRS as 501(c)(3) tax-exempt can make them tax-deductible for their donors. Most foundations won’t give grants to markets without the 501(c)(3) designation either. Partnering with a fiscal sponsor (such as Farmers Market Fund) who can provide a donation portal and oversight support is an alternative for markets who are not a 501(c)(3).

 

Other Resources

OFMA’s Guide to Accepting SNAP

Starting a SNAP program at your farmers market involves operational planning and making key financial decisions. The following guide will walk you through all the considerations and systems needed to put your market in place for success.

 

  • A direct link back to our SNAP/EBT overview page.

    Link Here

  • Learn the basics about SNAP & EBT so you and your market can get setup to use it.

    Link Here

  • To accept EBT, credit, and debit cards farmers markets need to have a wireless point-of-sale (POS) machine that processes the sales transactions, depositing the funds from the sale into a market’s bank account. Learn more to get that setup.

    Link Here

  • Need SNAP/EBT point-of-sale equipment for your market? MarketLink can help make it more affordable. Find out more.

    Link Here

  • Wonder what a market day will look like if you decide to take on a SNAP program? There are a number of details that should be taken into consideration. Although every market performs differently, here’s an overview of a typical day’s responsibilities, and those ongoing.

    Link Here

  • Once your market is approved to accept SNAP benefits, you must teach your staff, volunteers, and vendors the federal regulations guiding SNAP usage. Learn more here.

    Link Here

  • What do you do if your EBT machine is down but you still want to process payments? Here is our guide.

    Link Here

  • Once you can accept EBT cards at your farmers market, you need both on-site and off-site promotion to let everyone know, as well as funding to keep it going. Promotion and education are key to a successful SNAP program at your market. Learn more here.

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