Second Harvest distributes more than 2 million pounds of donated food each month to help people in need in its service region – the Inland Northwest. Partnerships with more than 250 neighborhood food banks and meal centers make it possible for Second Harvest to feed 50,000 people each...
Second Harvest’s Food Sourcing/Development Team meets frequently to discuss and measure strategies in building relationships with its donors. A creative, soft approach (friendly; not overbearing) has proven advantageous in their line of success. Being sensitive to donors’ time and schedule are critical for the sustainability...
Outreach & RecruitmentTabling at volunteer fairs, plant sales and harvest fairs, food- and urban agriculture-related events, and events held by organizations with similar missionsEmailing city or neighborhood listservs about specific volunteer opportunitiesNeighborhood outreach including door-to-door flyeringProviding service learning and internship opportunities for local studentsPosting on...
Lettuce Link is one of over 30 programs of Solid Ground, a large social service agency that serves Seattle and King County. In keeping with Solid Ground’s mission of “building community to end poverty,” Lettuce Link seeks to create equal access to nourishing, healthy, and culturally appropriate...
Community Fruit Tree Harvest (CFTH)The best way of recruiting donors and volunteers for Lettuce Link is word of mouth. CFTH produces quartersheet flyers that people can easily give to neighbors and friends who are interested in participating in the project. In addition, the season kick-off and...
OutreachOne of the goals of the Seattle Community Farm is to engage the community in growing and sharing food. Therefore, we only do outreach in the immediate neighborhood around the farm, rather than engaging with large groups from anywhere in the city. The immediate neighborhood...
Here are some ways that we have found work well to inform the community about what we do:Create a flyer template with a logo or design that stays consistent. People will begin to recognize the layout of the flyer before they even read the words.We...
Similar Goals and ProgrammingIf there are organizations doing something similar, why bother competing? Collaboration can allow you to support one another, exchange ideas, and possibly co-sponsor events or classes.This reduces the chances of volunteer recruitment becoming a competition. You may even find it useful to...
After a lengthy search for space, a partnership was started between Lettuce Link and the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA). SHA manages low-income and mixed-income housing developments throughout Seattle. A piece of land in the Rainier Vista re-development that was unused for years is now the Seattle Community Farm. Rainier...
How to solicit donations and maintain good relationships with your donors:Donors such as garden supply stores or seed companies are obvious, but others require more creativity to figure out how they fit in. For example, a design-build firm that focuses on architecture projects helped us...