Donation Drives in the Age of COVID-19

Although organizations are in the midst of revamping their service model for the remote age, many are also looking beyond the immediate crisis.   In particular, we have been discussing the fate of summer school supply drives with our nonprofit partners.  One of the burning open questions is whether nonprofits should recruit volunteers to help with upcoming summer programs.  Will it be safe for volunteers to participate in large group events, and even if it’s safe, would they even want to come out?  To what extent will we need to continue some level of social distancing to reduce the likelihood of a COVID-19 resurgence?

School supply drives have historically relied on volunteers for the collection, sorting, assembly, and distribution of backpacks and school supplies to those in need.  Many of these culminate in huge events with thousands of people attending on a single day of fun-filled activities, school supply distribution, and back-to-school preparations.  Clearly, given current social distancing requirements, this type of event would be canceled, but what will it be like in July or August?

We don’t have a crystal ball, and your guess is as good as ours.  The only thing we can all do is to move forward with our programs and build in contingency plans should things change.  Below are some of the approaches that we have been discussing with nonprofits:

• Return to Status Quo:  This volunteer-heavy approach assumes that things return to normal completely for the summer.  The donation drive would run as it has every year.  Donation barrels would be distributed throughout the community to collect supplies, and donors would shop and drop like they have in previous years.  The supplies would be picked up, and an army of volunteers would help sort and assemble backpacks and school supply kits.  A large back-to-school bash would still be held to celebrate the start of the new school year.
• Full Migration Online:  This approach assumes that social distancing requirements will still be required or recommended by health and safety experts to prevent a coronavirus resurgence.  It also streamlines the logistics, minimizing the amount of staff and volunteer time required.  All supplies would be collected online via an online donation drive or a cash fundraising tool.  The supplies would be delivered directly to the nonprofit with the backpacks pre-kitted so that volunteers would not need to participate.  Large back-to-school events would be not be held, replaced by scheduled pickups that minimize the flow of traffic at any given time.
• Partial Migration Online:  This approach assumes that social distancing guidelines will be relaxed, but reduces large gatherings and the amount of volunteer participation.  An online campaign would still be set up and pushed out to donors, and the number of physical collection sites reduced to only the most popular locations.  Supplies would be delivered pre-sorted or pre-kitted, and smaller groups of volunteers would help with the organization and distribution of supplies.  Large back-to-school would be scaled back, and the supplies would be distributed through scheduled pickup windows.

Variations of these three core themes are possible depending on your organization’s specific situation and needs.  The most important point is that your summer donation drive can be adapted to the “new normal” just like every other aspect of our lives have.

Roonga’s online collection drives streamline logistics for nonprofits and maximize the dollar through our wholesale relationships.  If you are interested in learning more about how Roonga can help you mitigate the risks of the COVID-19 outbreak on your program, contact us here or email us at hello@roonga.com.