Blog Post: VolunteerHub is a Game Changer for Atlanta Food Bank

https://www.volunteerhub.com/blog/atlanta-food-bank/ 


VolunteerHub is a Game Changer for Atlanta Food Bank

Atlanta Community Food Bank Volunteers

VolunteerHub is helping Atlanta Community Food Bank increase volunteer retention, streamline recruitment, report program data, and reduce barriers.

 

Atlanta Community Food Bank, a member of Feeding America, is on a mission to fight hunger by engaging, educating, and empowering the community. The nonprofit organization, serving the metro Atlanta and North Georgia communities, was founded in 1979 by Bill Bolling after he saw a need to support those struggling with hunger and poverty.

Atlanta Community Food Bank has grown substantially since it was founded and now distributes nearly 72 million pounds of food per year, which is equivalent to nearly 60 million meals.

Even with such a big reach, Atlanta Community Food Bank continues to see a need for the services they provide to the Atlanta community. In fact, a Hunger in America report shows that 1 in 7.5 people (755,400 people in Atlanta and north Georgia) rely on food pantries and meal service programs to feed their families.

Deploying Programs to Fight Hunger and Poverty

Atlanta Community Food Bank plans to continue to pursue its mission until all residents in the community are nourished. In order to reach its goal, the Food Bank leverages several community programs including benefits outreach, hunger and poverty education, product rescue, and its annual Hunger Walk Run event.

“Atlanta Community Food Bank serves 29 counties within metro Atlanta and north Georgia and works to feed those who need food. We work with and are supported by over 700 partner agencies who share the same goal,” said Heather Moon, Public Relations Coordinator, Atlanta Community Food Bank

The Role of Volunteerism Towards the Mission

Atlanta Community Food Bank would not be able to achieve its mission without the support and devotion of volunteers. In 2019, the Food Bank utilized over 30,000 volunteers to support its various programs.

Volunteers fill a variety of roles including administrative tasks, food sorting and packing, client support, facilities upkeep, and special events.

“Volunteerism is a huge component of our organization’s ability to reach its goals and provide support to the community in which the Food Bank serves,” said Jonathan James, Volunteer Program Manager, Atlanta Community Food Bank

The Need for Cutting-Edge Volunteer Management Features

Prior to exploring and ultimately implementing VolunteerHub, Atlanta Community Food Bank used another volunteer management solution. The solution was missing many of the features and functionality that the Food Bank needed to streamline its complex volunteer program.

The features that Atlanta Community Food Bank needed included volunteer self-registration, opportunity promotion, automated reports, communication, and integration with Raisers Edge.

VolunteerHub is the Best Solution for Foodbanks Needs

Atlanta Community Food Bank was able to get all the functionality its program needed and more from VolunteerHub’s volunteer management software. Some of the most valuable features of VolunteerHub to the Food Banks program include campaign pages, volunteer scheduling, event customization, reporting, and CRM integration.

The nonprofit has also found VolunteerHub valuable during times of uncertainty, such as responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. Atlanta Community Food Bank has been able to use VolunteerHub to provide volunteers with updates regarding its response via email and text notifications. These communication capabilities have been invaluable to the organization during the COVID-19 crisis.

“Prior to investing in VolunteerHub, we used another volunteer management solution but the software did not meet the needs of our unique program. The features that VolunteerHub provides is a game-changer,” said Jonathan

The staff at Atlanta Community Food Bank has also been impressed with the support they receive from the VolunteerHub team and the optimizations that have been made to the software since they implemented it, several years ago.

“I absolutely love Admin 2.0 in VolunteerHub. The filter function is very useful and the user interface is very clean,” said Jonathan.

VolunteerHub has become a great asset for Atlanta Community Food Bank and its mission to engage, educate, and empower the community in response to poverty and hunger. Partnering with the right volunteer management provider has allowed the Food Bank to focus on optimizing its program and planning for the future.

“I would recommend VolunteerHub to any nonprofit that is not yet using a volunteer management solution. Organizations that are not using a volunteer management solution are trying to run their program with an arm tied behind their back” said Jonathan.

Login or Signup to post a comment