Food/Fund Drives, Third-Party Events and Promotions PARTNERSHIP PACKET

Food/Fund Drives, Third-Party Events and Promotions PARTNERSHIP PACKET

Dear Community Partner, Welcome aboard! Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin is so grateful for your interest in holding a food/fund drive, special event or promotion that you will plan and execute using your financial and staffing resources. Donations to Second Harvest Foodbank advance our mission of ending hunger in southwestern Wisconsin through community partnerships. Since you ve stepped up to hold a food/fund drive or event, you are aware of the need and how you can make a difference. But do you know who is facing hunger in our communities? Second Harvest Foodbank meets nearly one million requests for assistance each year. Of those served by Second Harvest Foodbank and our partner food pantries, shelters and meal sites: 57% of households have someone working at least 30 hours per week. 61% of households have income under $20,000 per year 83% buy inexpensive or unhealthy food 65% eat expired food 48% get help from family or friends The guidelines in this packet will help with the planning of your food/fund drive or fundraiser and introduce you to some useful ideas for managing it that require little or no Foodbank resources. Thank you for your partnership. Together, we can end hunger! With gratitude, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin Dan Stein, Second Harvest (L), and Jeff Yurcisin, Shopbop.com (R). Second Harvest makes it easy for Shopbop.com to make a big difference in our community, helping struggling families stay on their feet. We drum up enthusiasm, drive hard for a week and you d be surprised how many people step up to contribute food and funds. And, if we meet our goal, our General Manager wears the Sombrero de Honor. Jeffrey Bruemmer Operations, Shopbop.com Raise meals simply! VIRTUAL FOOD DRIVE fundraiser (page 4) Page 1

WHAT SECOND HARVEST FOODBANK CAN DO FOR YOU Second Harvest Foodbank will assist in making your food/fund drive, event or promotion a success. Our support must be limited to: Guidance for your food/fund drive, event or promotion. Second Harvest Foodbank branding and data for your promotional materials o Organization Logo in preferred file format. Do not copy the logo on our website. o Organization Listing in Text for promotional materials, tickets, invitations, etc.: (note: Foodbank is one word) 1 st reference: Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin Subsequent reference (if logo also used or space very limited): Second Harvest Foodbank o Hunger statistics/information about the people your event is helping. Website promotion o Events calendar. Calendar posting, including your logo and web link, for events open to the public. o Monthly Top 5. Results of each month s top five meal-raisers are listed on our website for one year. In November-December, top meal-raisers are featured in the NBC15 Share Your Holidays honor roll. Collection containers. Cash jars and food barrels (for more than 200 pounds) in which to collection donations. Tax receipts to donors who make a direct donation to Second Harvest Foodbank and provide contact information. Representative at your event. We can endeavor, but can t guarantee, to provide a representative. Instead, we can coordinate, upon request, a check presentation at Second Harvest Foodbank. TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL THIRD-PARTY EVENT OR PROMOTION Proceeds. As a responsible steward of public funds, Second Harvest Foodbank believes a reasonable percentage of the gross revenues from all fundraising events should be directed to our mission. It s recommended a third party organizing an event to benefit the Foodbank keep expenses to 0-25% of gross revenue. We also request your event tender this percentage of net proceeds to Second Harvest Foodbank within 45 days of the event. Saleable items. Any item you plan to sell as a fundraiser for Second Harvest Foodbank must be non-controversial. Raffles. To conduct a raffle, you need a raffle license. Learn more at the State of Wisconsin Department of Administration s Division of Gaming website: http://www.doa.state.wi.us/divisions/gaming/charitable-gaming. Publicity. As the event organizer, be prepared to initiate publicity for your event, including contacting the media and committing the necessary funds. Promotional Materials. Second Harvest Foodbank s name and logo have special meaning for people around southwestern Wisconsin and we require a written or verbal request to authorize use of our name and logo for fundraising purposes. All promotional materials related to an event benefiting Second Harvest Foodbank must be reviewed and approved by Second Harvest Foodbank prior to their production and distribution. This includes, but is not limited to, posters, flyers, invitations, press releases, radio or television advertisements/public service announcements, newspaper or newsletter articles and website/event calendar postings. Personnel. Second Harvest Foodbank does not have the personnel to handle administrative tasks for your event, including but not limited to distributing invitations, compiling RSVPs or selling tickets. We do not provide volunteers to run third-party events. Sponsors. Second Harvest Foodbank negotiates with many different financial underwriters and sponsors for our own signature events. To ensure no duplication of effort, you must inform us of any sponsors you have or any efforts made to recruit financial underwriters/sponsors. Geographic boundaries. Events that extend outside of Second Harvest Foodbank s service area must have the approval of all the food banks involved. We can help facilitate approvals by Wisconsin food banks. Political campaigns. As a 501(c)(3) organization, Second Harvest Foodbank is absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of our tax-exempt status. Learn more at http://www.irs.gov/charities-&-non-profits/charitable-organizations/the-restriction-of-political-campaign- Intervention-by-Section-501(c)(3)-Tax-Exempt-Organizations. Page 2

TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL FOOD/FUND DRIVE PLANNING Timeline. Plan specific start and end dates. Drives typically run from one week to a month. Goal. Consider setting a goal in either number of meals or pounds of food. Second Harvest can provide one meal for every 1.2 pounds of food and 3 meals for every $1 donated. Use goals to challenge your participants or create competition amongst different groups in your organization. Ideas o Designated Item/Theme Day. Mac & Cheese Monday, Tuesday Tuna, or have a day to bring peanut butter and jelly or complete meals in a box. o Brown Bag Lunch Day. Ask people to brown bag it for one day and contribute the amount they would have spent to eat lunch in a restaurant to feed our neighbors facing hunger. A $5 lunch=15 meals for those in need. o Seasonal Theme. In winter, it s difficult for some families to pay for heating costs as well as food. In summer, children of families struggling to make ends meet can t rely on subsidized school breakfasts and lunches. o Competition. Between departments or floors and award the winner a special prize. o Memorial and Honor Donations. Encourage employees to write a check in memory or honor of a special person. o Employer Matched Donations. Inquire whether your organization or its management can match employee donations. For example, if your goal is to raise 500 meals, your employer can match it for approximately $166 ($1=3 meals, $166x3=498 meals). o Jeans Day. Allow staff to wear jeans one day, for the right price. o Progress Count. Display a thermometer or other illustration to indicate meals raised or pounds collected. o Photos. Take photos for the company newsletter and to send to Second Harvest for potential use in our newsletter. o Mid-point Promotion or announcement to rekindle interest. o Near-end Success Report. Thank those who ve donated and urge participants to go over the top. Promotion. Fundraising is effective when people understand what their contribution will do. Promote $1 provides a day s worth of meals, through posters, kick-off meetings, newsletter articles, a message from management, a planned event tie-in, decorated collection containers, and Foodbank tours. Start promotion well before the drive s start date. Food/Fund Drive Marketing Toolkit Download posters, cash jar labels, fact sheets, stickers, web ads and more! http://www.secondharvestmadison.org/get-involved/foodfund-drives/marketing-toolkit Logistics. Safe collection, storage and delivery are critical for funds and food. Here are ideas: Reserve Second Harvest s cash jars and food collection barrels (for drives that expect to collect over 200 pounds) at least two weeks in advance. o Before you ask us to deliver the barrels, please be mindful of the cost of operating our trucks. Will the amount of food collected offset the cost of gas? AFTER YOUR FOOD/FUND DRIVE Deliver food and cash donations to Second Harvest Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. Small food pick-ups are cost-prohibitive, so drop off your food if it is equal to or less than that which would fit in the back of a pick-up truck. If you can t deliver the collected food, provide Second Harvest one-week notice to pick up it up at your building s loading area. (Note: we can conduct pick-ups on Tuesdays and Thursdays.) Check donations should be mailed to the attention of Tina Statz (address below). Do not mail cash. Photos. Share any photos with FFD@shfbmadison.org. Results. Second Harvest will send you a letter with total dollars and pounds raised. Thank your participants and share the final number of meals raised. Volunteer. Experience the difference your donation makes! Contact VolunteerServices@shfbmadison.org or 608-216-7214. Page 3

MOST NEEDED DONATIONS MONEY Raise monetary donations. You can collect cash/checks. You can also hold an easy-to-manage, low administration Virtual Food Drive fundraiser (http://www.secondharvestmadison.org/give-funds/virtual-food-drive). For every $1 donated, Second Harvest Foodbank can provide 3 meals. Strong local food industry donor relationships and avenues to obtain quality, nutritious food at reduced prices enable a dollar to go much further in our hands than the common market. Download this poster: http://files.secondharvest.gethifi.com/get-involved/foodfund-drives/posterlayout.pdf Contact FFD@shfbmadison.org for the high resolution version. NON-PERISHABLE FOOD & NON-FOOD GROCERY ITEMS We won t discourage you from purchasing food at retail prices for a food drive or donating food from your pantry that may otherwise go to waste, but we d like to emphasize: your monetary contribution will go much further toward ending hunger. These items are most needed to assist those facing hunger. Only unopened and NON-GLASS items can be accepted. NON-PERISHABLE FOOD Beans (dried/canned black, kidney, navy, pinto) Cereal Complete meals in a box or can (soup, pasta, Tuna/Hamburger Helper, mac & cheese, etc.) Cornmeal Crackers NON-FOOD GROCERY Baby wipes Bar soap Deodorant Diapers (disposable) Facial tissue Flour Fruit (canned) and applesauce Juice (100% fruit) Milk (powdered) Pancake mix (complete) & Syrup Peanut butter & Jelly Potatoes (boxed/dehydrated) Pasta (dry) Laundry detergent Liquid dish soap Paper towels Plastic food storage bags Razors (disposable) Pasta sauce Ramen noodles Rice Sugar Tortillas (shelf-stable) Tuna (canned) Vegetable oil Vegetables Sanitary napkins and tampons Shampoo Shaving cream Toilet paper Tooth brushes and paste Safe food collection, storage and delivery are extremely important. Food needs to be kept dry and protected from extreme temperatures. Complete the Participation Form to move forward with your food/fundraiser: http://files.www.secondharvestmadison.org/get-involved/foodfund-drives/ffdparticipationform2.doc Questions: 608-216-7248 FFD@shfbmadison.org Page 4