June 2022 - 18

FARM MARKET & AGRITOURISM
How to find, keep your farm's CSA members
BRIAN MOYER
Penn State Extension
bfm3@psu.edu
start a farmers market in their town.
The committee surveyed members of
the community, and when asked how
they would like to receive updates and
information about the market, more
than 80% of the 1,150 respondents chose
social media.
Whatever you decide to use, all of your
One of the attractions of having a CSA
(Community Supported Agriculture)
farm is that it allows you to focus more
on farming and spend less time figuring
out where you are going to market your
harvest.
While there may be some truth in
that statement, one still needs to find the
" community " portion of the CSA that will
support your farming venture. Let's look
at ways to find shareholders or members
and explore some methods you can use to
keep them.
On average, a typical CSA may have to
replace 55% of its shareholders every year.
That retention rate can be a lot of work
and worry.
Who are your shareholders?
Spend some time learning about the
community you want to grow food for.
What are the staple foods they would like
to consume? What do the demographics
tell you about the community?
Knowing who is in your community
might influence the products you will offer,
drop-off points, what kind of shares you
are offering, events you may have and how
you communicate with your shareholders.
Finding shareholders
No matter what form of agriculture
you do, you will have to be involved in
some form of marketing, and a CSA is no
exception.
Marketing requires time, tools and
knowledge. Time for marketing is not the
first thing we think about as farmers, but
maybe it should be. Think of it this way;
the harvest isn't fully complete until the
food is in the customers' hands.
There are many marketing tools
available to us today that can make
reaching out to your customers or
shareholders so much easier. The trick is
selecting the tools that are right for you.
There are the obvious ones: logo,
business cards and invoices. These are
very important. They give your business a
" look " or " feel " and something that your
customers will recognize immediately.
How do your potential shareholders
get their information? Do they search
websites? Do they use Facebook? Do they
have a newspaper subscription? Knowing
the demographic you are trying to reach
will help you select what marketing tools
will work the best for you.
Nationally, the demographics of CSA
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shareholders are suburban or urban,
educated, primarily female ages between
30 and 49, and are already consumers of
organic foods. They want high-quality
food, and they want to support local farms.
If this is the demographic of your
community, then such internet tools
like websites and social media might
be your best options. I was working
with a community who are looking to
tools should direct people to your website.
Think of your website as the hub, and all
other tools such as Facebook, Instagram,
blogs, E-newsletters, etc., as spokes.
The website is where all the important
information should be.
Keeping shareholders
Just as you need methods to
communicate with your shareholders, you
should provide ways for the shareholders
to share with you. You need to know why
they join, stay, and leave. How do they use
the produce you provide? Is it enough? Is
it the quality they expected?
Some tools you can use:
* Create a " core group " of
shareholders for advice, feedback
and planning.
* Create opportunities for feedback
(during season, end of season).
à Talk to members at pick-up.
à Have a " Comment Tree "
(paper, web, email).
à Have an email listserv for the
shareholders.
à Conduct surveys (email,
web, paper) at the end of the
season.
* Learn why members don't renew.
The biggest reward for taking the time
to use these tools effectively is having
clear and better communication with your
shareholders. The result is better retention
rates and spending less time in the winter
trying to find new shareholders and more
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June 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of June 2022
