Fighting Food Insecurity in 46 Counties

Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee is one of the largest nonprofits in the state. It recently celebrated its 46th birthday, which was a significant milestone; the organization helps combat food insecurity in 46 counties. 

Relationship building is at the core of their work. Second Harvest strives to support the entire person, working collaboratively with 600 strategic partners to run 19 different programs—all of which are curated to help bring about a more equitable future. 

“We look for funders who are aligned with our mission. Working with mission-aligned supporters is a win-win situation.” - Gay Burden, Director of Developmental Operations

Federal Funding Cuts Devastate Food Banks

On April 1, 2025, Second Harvest Food Bank of Tennessee lost access to 30 percent of its USDA-supplied food due to federal funding cuts. 

This equated to 700 thousand pounds less of fresh produce, proteins, and dairy products. Nonprofit CEO Nancy Keil estimates that total replacement costs for just one quarter equal $600,000.  

“Since 2020, Second Harvest has seen a 46% increase in people seeking food assistance. The need [for our services] is growing—just as access to help is shrinking. ”- Nancy Keil, President & CEO  

Second Harvest Food Bank isn’t alone in facing this challenge. Food banks are some of the nonprofits hardest hit by the USDA funding cuts. The losses below barely scratch the surface: 

• In Iowa, $11.3 million worth of food was
• In Arizona, $21 million worth of food was lost
• In Delaware, $2 million worth of food was lost

Time Crunch: Not Enough Hours to Manage 200+ Partners

Second Harvest Food Bank has an impressive portfolio of over 200 partner organizations. Along with the new federal government funding cuts, time management has long been a challenge. This wasn’t thanks to a lack of systems or organization. 

“With a portfolio of over 200 [funders]…there’s only so many hours in the day…the Pro Plan with AI has felt like we added 2 to 3 people to our team…it’s given us more hours in the day.”

Second Harvest already had an effective CRM (Raiser’s Edge NXT) and used Instrumentl’s Standard plan for grant prospecting. 

In the past, Gay used GrantHub for grant management, along with a chronological list in a Word document. Each time Second Harvest Food Bank applied for a grant, Gay went in and crossed it off by hand. Though she was familiar with Instrumentl, she’d yet to tap into its full grant management potential. 

Gay knew they needed to make a change when it came to grant management. Faced with the following challenges, there just weren’t enough hours in the day: 

• Over 19 programs in need of prospecting
• A portfolio of over 200 grants
• A rudimentary grant management system, including software that didn’t cross-communicate. 

 Grant writer Allie Rut remembers: 

“We spent so many hours on administrative work. We had six different systems and none of them were communicating.” - Allie Rutland, Grant Writer

Scaling Grant Prospecting & Consolidating Grant Tracking: A New Approach

Eager to embrace new technology, Gay and Allie were curious how their nonprofit could use AI to improve operations. Online research into AI-powered grant management tools led them to the Instrumentl Pro plan. 

As it turned out, Second Harvest of Tennessee didn’t need another software solution. They just needed to expand their use of Instrumentl. Excited to see what it could do, Second Harvest Food Bank upgraded their account to Instrumentl Pro. 

Mission Impossible, Made Possible 

March 31, Second Harvest's busiest grant deadline day, was fast approaching. With lost federal funding and declining donations making a dent in their budget, nonprofit grant writing was more important than ever. So, Gay spent a weekend prospecting grants with their new Instrumentl Pro account. This led to 10 quality, value-aligned leads and their first significant win. “We just got our first check for $25K last week,” Gay says.

As hoped, the AI feature helped them streamline their workload and maximize efficiency. “Using the AI feature was like adding two or three people to our team,” Allie says. “What should have been mission impossible became possible.” 

“We had several deadlines on March 31. Three were new prospects. With Instrumentl’s AI feature, I was able to do $60K in asks in one day.” - Allie Rutland, Grant Writer

Learn how nonprofits can use AI to win grants. 

5 Key Ways Second Harvest Leveraged Instrumentl

It was Instrumentl’s AI capabilities that led Second Harvest Food Bank to Instrumentl. But once their account was active, they discovered a host of game-changing features: 

• More grant opportunities: Since upgrading to Instrumentl Pro, Second Harvest Food Bank has added over $260K worth of grants to their pipeline–in addition to their existing portfolio. 
• Data: Increased access to proper, comprehensive data on funders helps Second Harvest Food Bank advocate effectively for its programs in a way that aligns with funders. 

• In-depth reporting: With all grants in one platform, Second Harvest Food can easily run insightful reports. This was much more challenging when they were using multiple programs. “Using AI, if we’re writing a grant for, say, food as medicine, we can run a report by program to view different grants in the same category,” Gay says. 
• Personal customer support: With Instrumentl’s customer workshops and support, Gay and Allie have a better understanding of how to build projects for effective prospecting. 
• Customizable solution: Before Instrumentl Pro, Second Food Harvest had never had a customizable program to fit their grant management needs. Gay remembers: 

“We’ve always been trying to fit grants into their own box. Now they have their own space, allowing us to run reports that inform our work.” 

Significantly, Second Harvest Food Bank was able to sync Instrumentl calendar to their calendar in Razor's Edge. Gone were the days of multiple systems failing to communicate with each other. Now, Allie and Gay are confident they can strategically navigate future uncertainty. 

“Last year, our grant win rate was 83 percent. With our new, increased efficiency, we have the potential to increase that win rate.” - Gay Burden, Director of Developmental Operations

Nonprofit Resilience: Diversify Funding with Instrumentl

Cut federal funding remains a significant challenge for many in the nonprofit sector. 

The unprecedented shift in the political landscape had already begun reshaping the sector, and the way nonprofits operate may be forever changed.

Instrumentl is here to help you meet this moment. Our platform gives you the data, tools, and support to build a resilient grant program. 

“Instrumentl really felt like a late Christmas gift for us! We were so excited, and we see the potential because we understand the struggles we faced without a system, and now we have one that works for us.” - Gay Burden, Director of Developmental Operations

Ready to future-proof your fundraising and enhance your grants management process? Get your 14-day free trial of Instrumentl.