Food and fund drives are a fun, easy way to gather donations for Harvesters and help those in need throughout our community. Plus, food and fund drives also help raise awareness about the issue of hunger in the community. It takes all of us working together to solve hunger! Here are a few recommendations to help get you started.
1. Decide what type of drive you want to have.
- Traditional Food/Fund Drive – Collect nonperishable food and cash donations to help make sure our agency partners shelves stay full year round!
- Virtual Food Drive – Harvesters’ Virtual Food Drive tool allows individuals and companies to create their own custom donation page to raise funds. There is no need to wait to get started. For detailed instructions visit our Host Virtual Food Drive Page.
- Combination – You can always do both to achieve maximum results!
2. Set a goal for your drive.
- No donation is too small or too big! At Harvesters, 1.2 pounds of food equals one meal and every $1 donated equals 2 meals.
3. Choose a date and location for your drive.
- Food is needed year-round, so there is no bad time to conduct a food drive. Select a start date that allows sufficient time to organize, prepare and promote your food drive.
- Single-day food drives can be very successful because the focus is on one particular day. Most food drives last about two weeks, leaving enough time for donors to remember their donations!
- Select a prime location for your food drive. High traffic areas where the collection bins are visible are best.
4. Register your food drive with Harvesters.
- Registering is quick and easy, just fill out the form on our Host a Food or Fund Drive page. After your information has been submitted, our staff will contact you, make sure you have everything you need to get started, and provide you with support throughout your drive.
5. Brainstorm and plan.
- Determine what supplies you need.
- Create a collection system. Often, the best way to collect food donations is to use small to medium-sized boxes that are easy to lift.
- Are you planning the drive with a theme, competition, or decorations? Get creative to make your food and fund drive unique!
6. Promote your food drive.
Spread the word to let everyone know about your food drive. Here are some ideas to get you started.
- Place posters in highly visible places.
- Decorate food collection boxes.
- Send email blasts and follow up.
- Social Media: Tweet about it, Blog about it, Send a Facebook invitation.
- Pass out flyers.
- Place announcements in newsletters.
- Share hunger facts and information about Harvesters.
- Make your own pieces, or check out our resources below that are ready to use!
- Don’t overthink it! The goal is to collect food for those in need. Whether you collect a lot or a little, every bit of food you collect will help feed people in our community.
7. Start your food drive.
- Place a sign or poster near the collection point, so that donors know where to make their contribution!
- Send a progress report. Let the participants know how close you are to the goal! Frequent updates can serve as a motivator and a reminder!
- Share why you want to help fight hunger. When people donate, thank them, and then ask them to share why they care with their friends and family. Ask them to use social media too!
8. That’s a wrap!
- You did an awesome job! You can bring all of your donations to either of our office locations.
- Did you get so many donations that you need help getting it to us? Give us a call and we’ll see what we can figure out to help!
- When you drop off your donations, we’ll weigh them and provide you with a certificate showing your drive totals!
- Officially end the food drive by thanking everyone who donated and sharing the results. Photos are a great way to show everyone how much food you collected, so make sure you take a picture with all of your donations! Post the photo on social media, or attach it to an email to thank everyone for their help.
