We believe Double Up is most successful and sustainable when implemented consistently across a region, usually by a single lead organization or a partnership among organizations in the region. Most lead organizations today are nonprofit organizations, though successful programs are also led by university extension offices, health departments, or state agencies.

The roles of the Lead Organization include:

• fundraising
• recruiting and communicating with participating retail sites
• coordinating communications and outreach
• overseeing program finances
• ensuring evaluation is carried out

The roles of the Lead Organization can be shared by two or more independent organizations, if they have defined roles and responsibilities, good communications and strong accountability.

• Incentive dollars must match SNAP benefits.
• Incentive dollars may only be spent on locally-grown fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables at farmers markets. There must be a provision to track and increase the sourcing of locally-grown fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables at grocery stores. (See below for definition of local.)
• Incentive match is dollar-for-dollar with a designated and uniform earning limit per day. Limit can be dictated by funds available (in many states it is $20).
• Using provided tools, lead organization must:
  • Collect and share a basic set of data, including number of transactions, dollar amounts of SNAP and Double Up spent by customers and redeemed by vendors, number of new customers.
  • Conduct and share annual surveys of vendors or cashiers, site managers, and a subset of customers.

Always Eligible

• Fresh fruits and vegetables - whole and cut
• Fresh herbs

Some Programs Allow

• Canned, frozen, and dried fruits and vegetables without added salt, sugars, fats, or oils
• Plants and seeds that produce herbs, fruits, and vegetables
• Mushrooms

Non-Eligible

• Honey
• Maple syrup
• Value-added products (Jams and jellies, fermented products, bread, cider, juices)
• Eggs
• Meat
• Seafood
• Nuts and seeds processed for snacking (roasted, salted, etc.)
• Powdered or dried herbs and spices

At farmers markets, Double Up Food Bucks may only be spent on locally-grown fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. At grocery stores, Double Up Food Bucks must include a provision to track and increase the sourcing of locally-grown fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Given the regional variation in agriculture, program leads may define "local" at their discretion, using one of the following or some combination of these four definitions:

• Grown in the state in which it is sold
• Grown in the state in which it is sold or select bordering states
• Grown within no more than a 400 mile radius from its point of sale
• Sold directly to consumers by the farm that grew it

2. Annual Surveys of SNAP Participants and Site Staff

Lead Organizations using the Double Up brand agree to collect additional data from participating sites. At minimum, all Double Up sites must collect survey responses annually from participating vendors (at farmers markets) or cashiers (at grocery stores); site managers; and a subset of shoppers.

These are considered the "core" evaluation methods. Data collection tools including sample surveys are provided in the resources toolkit. These core questions are required and should be added to your data collection repertoire without being altered. If we all ask the same questions, we'll be able to tell the story of Double Up nationwide!

Additional questions may be added to suit programmatic evaluation needs. See the resources toolkit to help plan for focus groups, interviews, or site visit observations to further enhance your evaluation.

FFN’s reporting commitments require us to evaluate customer satisfaction across the DUFB national network. As such, we ask that your evaluation methods include a question that assesses customer satisfaction with your program.

If you do not already include this metric, an easy way to do so is by using the Net Promoter Score Question method. This will allows us to reliably identify SNAP customers who are satisfied with and would recommend the program across the country.

First, include the Net Promoter Score Question in your surveys:

• 1.) “On a scale from 1-10, how likely are you to recommend Double Up to a friend or family member who receives SNAP benefits? (with 10 being the most likely to recommend)"
• 2.) To round out this information, you may use the optional question: “What is one improvement that would make you happier with this program?”

Next, calculate the Net Promoter Score:

• Customers that give you a 6 or below are Detractors, 7 or 8 are Passives, and a 9 or 10 are Promoters. To calculate your Net Promoter Score, subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters.