Tips for hosting your own food drive

By hosting a food drive at your office, school, club, or place of worship, you can help the NH Food Bank continue to meet the needs of many people in our community.

Here are some tips that may help you plan a successful drive:

Tell us about your drive.

We love to list food and fund drives on our website.  Some donors visit our site to see where they can bring food donations, so giving us your information may help increase participation.  Even if your drive is internal and you aren't looking for outside donations, telling us about your drive will help us to keep track of when to expect new food items to arrive.  In order to keep a steady flow of food, we will stagger food drive dates when possible and coordinate our food purchases with times we know food drives will be few.

Click here to download our Event Request Form and email it to Kim at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , fax it to Attn: Kim at (603) 669-0270, or mail it to New Hampshire Food Bank, Attn: Kim, 700 East Industrial Park Drive, Manchester, NH 03109.  We will review your form and get back to you with any requests for support or materials that you include.

Think about what would motivate your audience, and how to communicate with them.

1. If you're planning an office drive, get management involved- offer an incentive for bringing items.  Have your coworkers "pay" 5 food items to be able to dress down on Friday, or ask management to offer up a half day to the person or department that brings the most items.  See if your company would be willing to match cash donations, or match each food item donated with $1.  Send emails to everyone in the office and put up fliers in high-traffic areas such as bathrooms, elevators and bulletin boards.
2. If you're planning a food drive at a school, have a competition between classes to see who can collect the most items.  Have a pep rally to kick off the drive- give us a call and we can send a Food Bank staff member to speak to the kids.  Have some art students make unique food drive fliers to hand around the school to remind everyone about the drive.  Give updates on who is winning the competition on a daily or weekly basis over the PA system.  Have a reward for the winning class- maybe a pizza party or ice cream sundaes.
3. If you're having a one-time event- a PTA meeting, a baseball game, a school dance, or a business retreat- spread the word as early as possible, and send a reminder a day or two before the event.  If there is only one day when you are collecting food items, it's important to remind your group a few times so that they remember to bring their items.

Promote, promote, promote.

If no one knows about your drive, no one will participate.  Think of your audience and what modes of communication are available:

• Emails
• Fliers in office mailboxes
• Posters and fliers in public areas
• Press Releases in a local newspaper
• Announcements in a newsletter
• Announcements on a PA system
• Mention on a website
• Public Service Announcements (PSAs) on a radio station

Monthly food drive flyers are available to download from the top of this page as well as our home page.  Download these and fill out your drive's information, and you can use them to hang in visible areas, email to coworkers, send out in newsletters or distribute into mailboxes.

Combine your food drive with a fund drive.

Lots of people forget to bring their items while they are dealing with the everyday stress of life- consider collecting cash or check donations as well.  Checks can be made out to "NH Food Bank," and you can mail them to us after the event.  If you collect cash donations, we do not recommend mailing cash- bring your cash to the Food Bank along with your food collection, or contact us to work out logistics.

Set a goal.

Whether you're at a school or an office, everyone understands a goal.  Some groups have set a numerical goal- collect 5,000 cans of soup, or 1,000 boxes of cereal.  Other groups strive to fill an object- an outdoor store might try to fill a canoe with food, or a school might try to fill 5 recycling bins.  Something visual always motivates people to participate- if possible, keep your canoe or recycling bins in a public area so everyone can see how the drive is going.  If you're close to your goal and everyone sees it, they might be more willing to help get you that last little bit.

Have food you would like to donate?

Bring your food donations to our new warehouse located at 700 East Industrial Park Drive in Manchester.  Our hours are 8am-4pm Monday thru Thursday and 8am-2pm on Friday.  If you are holding a food drive, or for those who have difficulty getting to us, there are some other options.  Depending on your location and the volume of food you have to donate, we may be able to arrange a pickup or we can refer you to one of our registered agencies in your area.

Birthday Parties

A growing number of children are helping the Food Bank stock our shelves by asking their friends to bring food items to their birthday parties rather than gifts.  Rather than accumulating piles of gifts that will never be used, email Kim at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to find out what types of food items are in demand and have your child's friends bring those food items to donate.  Instead of parents going out each month to buy birthday presents, they can pick up some extra items at their next grocery store run.  This helps to feed the hungry in our state as well as teaches your children about the importance (and reward!) of charitable giving.