Host a Food and fund Drive

One of the easiest ways to get your congregation, workplace or group engaged with the DMARC Food Pantry Network is by hosting a food and fund drive. Collecting nonperishable food items help us provide more food selection at our food pantry partners and providing monetary donations allows us to purchase more food at scale than a customer at the grocery store.

Make it fun! See who can raise the most funds and food for DMARC! Have a prize for the winning team, create a themed drive, or tie the drive into an existing event or theme. View our drive toolkit for instructions and ideas to get you started.

Download Our Toolkit

Sample Handout

Most needed items Counting your donations

Step 1 –  Planning your drive

Contact DMARC. Reach out to DMARC Volunteer & Outreach Manager Amanda Parkins at aparkins@dmarcunited.org to let us know you’re planning to host a drive.

Determine what type of drive to host. Are you raising funds, food, personal care items, or all of the above?

Set a fundraising goal for your drive. This will motivate your team and give them a sense of accomplishment when they meet the goal.

Promoting your drive

Step 2 – Make a promotional plan. This will help you inform people of your drive and provide reminders for your team along the way. Getting your plan created and ready to launch will take away any stress.

Step 3 – Launching your drive

Start gathering donations. Be sure to let people know your goal and deadline.

Send notifications and updates. Give periodic updates throughout your drive and don’t forget to make one final push for donations before your drive is complete.[/toggle]

Step 4- Completing your Drive

Count and box your donations. Package similar items together and put the number of items on the outside of the box. This helps DMARC save on time and labor.
Counting your donations

Notify DMARC and drop off your donation. Contact DMARC with your results and let us know you will be dropping off your donation.

Share the results. Take a photo and share your results – and don’t forget to mention DMARC and tag us on social media!

Questions about hosting a drive?

Currently hosting a drive? Contact Amanda Parkins and let her know how we can help! aparkins@dmarcunited.org or (515) 277-6969 x220.

double your impact – start an online drive

Hosting a virtual drive is easy! And you’ll have fun and build camaraderie within your organization as you also give back to your community. The tool we recommend when hosting a virtual drive for DMARC is JustGiving.

JustGiving is a crowd fundraising site that allows individuals and teams to raise funds for a registered nonprofit organization. With a JustGiving fundraising page you are given the freedom to customize your site with your own message and branding and include any logos and pictures. The page also gives you control to set your own fundraising goal and get live updates toward your progress as donations come in and see all of your generous donors!