How to run a Corporate Food Drive in Eight Steps
Designate the Food Drive Leader
Our Human Resources manager led our initiative to support the Community Food Bank of NJ. The food bank provided information on wishes and specific needs of several local families.
Delegate Tasks to Team Captains
She then selected team captains to spearhead each family’s package and food or money donations. Captains are responsible for inspiration, perspiration as well as coordination of their teams. Not a bad leadership opportunity!
Build the Teams
HR also designated which employees would support each team captain. Drawing from related departments makes it easier to coordinate and allows captains to focus on results.
Link Teams to Families
The captains held a draw, not unlike a draft; whoever picked #1 picked the first family they would assist, and so on until every family was matched with a team.
Link Food Bank Lists to Teams
We ran draw for food items in reverse order of the family draft. This draw determines which food groups each team would focus on. We find it more successful to focus teams on a few items rather than allowing everyone to pick what they want. The most efficient approach is for captains to gather money, then shop in bulk in one trip.
Stage Donations
Each captain designated a location for contributions and their bulk purchases within their work area. Seeing bag of food and gifts accumulating helped inspire teammates to add more.
Consolidate & Package Donations
Plan a day and time for all teams to meet in a large space to consolidate the goods. Each team wraps and packages the items they are giving to their family. The entire group consolidates and packages the bulk items and if needed, gift cards.
Arrange Pickup or Delivery
HR coordinates with the food bank for a pickup. We easily accumulate more than can fit in a car so we need an industrial strength vehicle to pick up and safely deliver the items to the food bank. Fortunately, the food bank has the right vehicles to make this happen.