Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
What Is a Chapter?
A “Chapter” (aka Operating Partner or Project) is the group that plans, organizes and executes the ‘pickup events’. In most cases they are also running ‘donor sign-up campaigns’.
We assist in a variety of ways;
- We provide the “ASG Web App”. This “do it all” app takes out more than 80% of the time it used to take to plan, organize and oversee an event. We provide a help guide, a AI assistant, and we can set up a live on-line meeting to help you with any part of the software.
- We provide detailed support for ‘Donor Sign Up Campaigns”. We will give you editable samples of marketing materials, ‘how to’ guides, and we will meet with you to help with any questions you might have.
- Any other questions? Just email us at info@ASGhelps.org and we will get you the information you need.
The Baseline; What every chapter does
Every Chapter is different in terms of the time and energy they can provide. This list is the ‘baseline’. These are the things every chapter needs to do;
- Register the chapter; (www.ASGWebApp.org). (One time - about 1 hour)
- Set up the Event Schedule for the year, normally 6 events a year. This includes selecting the pantries that get the food (one time; 2-4 hours)
- As Event Approaches, select and assign the drivers; (1 hour per event)
- Answer questions that may come up from donors/drivers (1 hour per event)
- Meet the drivers and pass out the reusable bags they will leave behind as they visit each donor for the pickup. (1 hour per event)
- Pick up the empty bags from the pantries, to be used for the next event. (1 hour per event).
If you add all this up you’ll find it takes about 3-4 hours to complete the Chapter Setup for the year. From there you the n manage pickup events themselves, which will take about an hour once you get used to using the ASG Web App.
In other words, this baseline of work is not much of a time commitment.
The Bigger Task; Chapters Add Donors
Adding donors is technically 'optional' but I think it's also presumed that a Chapter will spend at least a few hours a month building up their donor base. This is one of those topics where there is no limit, some chapters meet regularly and have many different things going on all the time. Others are more time-constrained and just do what they can.
Each donor is a big deal; One donor will average about 90 pounds of food donated per year with just 6 events. A typical donor stays in the program 7 years, which is 630 pounds. That's a value about around $1400.
A chapter in an area of 250,000 population has around 100,000 households. Our goal is 8-12% participation after the 5th year. At 10%, that's 630,000 pounds a year when we add in a 70% participation rate. In value; that is $1.4M dollars of food a year.
A program that can reach these #'s is going to move the needle. This will fill the pantries shelves. Reston, VA serves 4 pantries, 3 of them get 100% of their food from the "A Simple Gesture" chapter in town.
Adding donors takes time, planning and creativity. We are constantly asking our Chapters to let us know the ideas that work and to give us the marketing materials and details so we can pass them on to others.
Adding donors can happen in dozens of ways, but here are the most common and effective methods;
- Spread the word; Use our ’ASG Web App’ to generate a “Registration Link” and share it with friends and family. Ask them to do the same. This is probably the most common “first step” most chapters use to build up a base of a couple hundred donors.
- Set up a booth at community events; Have coffee, cold drinks, and snacks. Make up some t-shirts and a stand-up banner. Our software will generate a QR code to give potential donors a 2-minute process to register.
- Get church’s involved; The data is clear, these are the people most likely to sign up with little hesitation. Many church’s benefit as the pantry, and most will gladly help. Church’s will either bring it up during the service, let you set up a table outside, or send emails to their congregation.
- Engage the business community; Your Chamber of Commerce will be interested. They can email their members, allow you to speak at local events, and make up posters that local business’s can display in their stores along with a QR code to register.
- Talk to social clubs, community action clubs, and professional clubs; nearly all of them have weekly or bi-weekly meetings and they are always looking for speakers. Design your presentation or use one of ours. Bring a handout with a QR code, and have people register as you talk.
The ASG Web App provides a great tool to help you track the success of each donor campaign. Furthermore, when you offer 'incentive campaigns' where you actually pay an organization (usually a 501(c)(3) non profit) to help you register donors you can get precise reporting on that specific campaigns results. This is achieved by adding the campaign to the ASG Web App and then using the unique QR code or URL link (web link) to give to potential donors. As they register you will get reports on donor registration and donation reports. Nothing is better than going back to a grocery store a year later to show the store manager how many pounds of food were donated by their willingness to let you set up a table out front a year before.
To get more detailed information about the many ways to add donors, take a look at the "DONOR CAMPAIGNS" page, which then links to further details.
Give it time! This is more about playing the long game. Start out doing what you can and add on as you get more volunteer support.
Chapter Benefits
The main benefit is, of course, the impact of reducing Food Insecurity in the local community.
There are other significant benefits if that same chapter has other community interests. For example, the volunteers may benefit from certain types of networking. Just about all of them have other philanthropic interests.
A key piece of the puzzle is if the Chapter also has a "Branding Partner" that is involved in the "A Simple Gesture" project. You can read more about this partner on the next page, but in short it's often a big company that wants marketing visibility on the reusable bags. And they are willing to pay $$'s for it!
This list will use a couple assumptions, your situation may vary. The assumptions are there is a Branding Partner, and the Chapter is a community action club, like a Rotary, Lions, or Kiwanis.
- Club Membership; Most clubs seek more members. Brand Partners usually want to have their employee's more active in the community. It's the perfect match; as they work side-by-side in donor drives and pickup events the Brand Partner employee's join the clubs. Both gain.
- Fund Raising for the Club; one of the most effective ways to sign up more donors is a method we call "incentive campaigns". This works when you have the funding, and can be a very quick way to build a large donor base. This funding often goes directly to the club that is running the chapter to use for other services they provide to their community. Or these donations can be directed to whomever the Chapter wishes.
- Club Promotion; The Brand Partner is going to want high-visibility. They know that without the Chapter's efforts there is no programs, this gives the Chapter a great way to get their brand out into the community so everyone can see their significant contribution.
