We asked. you answered. we listened.
BETTER COMMUNICATION – TRANSPARENCY – MORE DONATION OPTIONS
In October 2020, we sent out a survey to ask you how we were doing on our mission of alleviating food poverty here in Lakeside. We were thrilled to find out just how many of you appreciated what we were doing – even back then, a scant six months after we started. Most of you believed we were serving a critical role in our community, and many were willing to donate to support our mission. A great majority also agreed that our mission should include the elderly, sick, and handicapped – not just those who became unemployed due to Covid-19 (which had been our original focus).
Of course, the survey also highlighted a few issues that needed our attention. Ever since we conducted that survey, we have consistently taken steps to address those issues. Here is our report on the details of those improvements.
Before we start, please remember that we welcome your feedback at any time. You don’t have to wait for the next survey to contact FoodBank Lakeside with your ideas, concerns or questions.
We have focused our improvements in three areas:
Better communication
Some donors prefer email, others prefer social media (mainly Facebook), and still others enjoy the personal touch. So we’ve strived to balance our communications among the following:
- In Person: The presentation at Open Circle by our leadership team in March 2022 gave the community the opportunity to learn more about local food poverty and to meet many volunteers.
- By web/email: The newsletter consistently offers engaging stories about who we serve and how we help. It also conveys the details: e.g. the number of families in need who are receiving food assistance. Sign up for newsletter here.
- Social Media: Consistent Facebook posting keeps many people informed.
- Community Presence: Venues as varied as the Tuesday organic market, our sponsoring local restaurants through our Dine & Donate program, and regular articles published in local media outlets all offer important outreach as well as multiple opportunities to donate.
Transparency
You’ve told us that you want to know the details of our efforts. What exactly do we provide? How are families selected? What is a “despensa” and how does it end up in the right hands?
- Did you know we do not have the expense of a warehouse? This is one of many ways we economize so that the vast majority of donations go directly to feeding those in need. You can find an article here on the despensa contents and how they are distributed.
- A “rule of thumb” is that non-profit administrative expenses should comprise no more than 25% of donations. FoodBank Lakeside has consistently kept that number well below 5%.
- Our organization depends on the knowledge of Mexican Local Coordinators – all volunteers, like the rest of us at FoodBank Lakeside – who live in the community they serve. They use an intake form to interview and select families in need. They follow up regularly to prioritize the families most in need. And they keep their fingers on the pulse of the community so they can identify when FoodBank Lakeside recipients leave town, or go back to work, or begin receiving sufficient support from family so that they no longer need our assistance. We could not do what we do without the Local Coordinators!
- Distressingly many families in the small towns east of Chapala suffer from kidney disease and food poverty. Our latest project, Kids Kitchen, addresses those important issues.
More Donation Options
Last but not least, we learned that not everyone wants to donate in the same way. In fact, while some prefer cash, others will only donate online. We now have five ways to donate to FoodBankLakeside!
In the short term, we will be organizing our Facebook presence to post more regularly about various aspects of our operations with special post categories so that our followers are more up to date about our workings. Then as time permits, we will be expanding into other social media to broaden our reach. Simultaneously, we will be forming in-person teams that will give our community the opportunity to meet some of our volunteers and talk about our operations, as well as donate, at various events such as the Tuesday Organic Market.
Regarding transparency, we will share our family selection process from start to finish. And using our social media, mainly on Facebook for the time being, as well as our webpage, we will share more stories of the families we serve so that you, as our followers and supporters, stay connected with your neighbors, whose lives you’ are changing with your donations. Also, as part of transparency, we will be introducing you to FoodBank’s teams, bit by bit. Finally, we also need to address financial transparency. Direct financial updates will not be posted publicly on social media for safety and security reasons. However, we will make you aware of the number of families we have on our lists, the cost of the despensas to serve them, and whether monthly donations are meeting or exceeding our monthly expenses.
In summary, as we continue to improve and expand our mission, we love it when you contact Foodbank Lakeside with your valuable input, whether that be questions, concerns, kudos, suggestions or your own interest in volunteering! We cannot pursue this critical mission without you.