The encyclopedia · R&D & Science · Operational decision · 2015–2018
Harvest Hope used integer programming to place food drives, up 41% meals
An integer program picked which promotion events to run, letting Harvest Hope Food Bank provide 1.72M more meals a year (+41%).
Harvest Hope Food Bank
the move
Harvest Hope Food Bank distributed millions of pounds but still met only about 40% of the need in its 20-county region.
The team built an integer programming optimization model to choose which promotional events to run within existing resource limits.
By optimizing the placement of appeals, the food bank captured far more donated food from the same outreach effort.
why it works
- It treats the choice of promotions as an allocation problem.
- Integer programming handles the discrete, constrained choices.
- It stays within existing resource limits, so no new spend.
- It produced 1.72M additional meals, a 41% increase.
what transfers
A nonprofit's bottleneck is often how it spends scarce outreach, not how much it asks; optimizing the placement of appeals can multiply the result at no extra cost.
what came after
The model let Harvest Hope provide 1.72 million additional meals per year — a 41% increase — from these promotional events within existing resource limits, demonstrating that optimization can expand a food bank's impact without more donation volume.
references
- Harvest Hope Food Bank Optimizes Its Promotional Strategy to Raise Donations Using Integer Programming
- Harvest Hope Food Bank Optimizes Its Promotional Strategy to Raise Donations Using Integer Programming
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