Shift from compliance to capacity
Feed More is Central Virginia’s hunger-relief organization, supporting over 400 agencies and programs with their food bank, children’s feeding and Meals on Wheels programs.
Historically, the relationship between the food bank and their partners was largely compliance-oriented and lacking in two-way communication.
Feed More felt shifting to a capacity-focused relationship was more aligned with their mission and that treating their agencies as partners would increase their overall community impact and provide more opportunities to grow and strengthen as a network.
Building capacity network-wide
Feed More introduced Link2Feed’s food bank intake software as a capacity building tool to help agencies build stronger client relationships and share quality data with the food bank.
Agencies completed a standardized intake process with each client using Link2Feed, asking questions about their household demographics, income and employment. Asking these client-focused questions marked a fundamental shift in their work, as the agencies had traditionally focused on distribution efficiencies.
Feed More staff were dedicated to supporting the change management process and worked alongside agency intake workers for several consecutive distributions interviewing clients and recording data.
Impact powered by Link2Feed’s food bank intake software and first-hand experience
The structured process offered by Link2Feed’s food bank intake software has enabled agencies to take a more client-centric approach to distributions. Agencies reported increased satisfaction in their work, a deeper connection with their clients and an improved sense of community at their agency. Feed More staff also took this opportunity to work directly with clients for the first time, connecting them more deeply with the food bank’s mission and giving them a renewed sense of purpose in their roles.
The experience of working together to serve clients was instrumental in shifting the dynamic between the food bank and their agencies. Feed More staff gained a better understanding of agency operations and the agencies benefited from more direct and open communication with their food bank representatives.
“I can’t even remember how we operated before this. Our decisions were based on second-hand anecdotal experience and inconsistent data. We can now drive change across our organization from our first-hand experience, enhanced agency relationships and dependable data that can be accessed with a few clicks. Moving forward with Link2Feed completely revolutionized the way we operate at Feed More.” – Erin Lingo, Director of Agency Relations, Feed More