Innovative assistance: driving food bank donations with QR codes

Kent based Food Bank charity launches UK’s first ‘Food Bank Donation Stations’ as an innovative way for the public to buy and donate food to those who need it most.

Nourish Community Foodbank, based in Kent, has launched a series of ‘Donation Stations’ across Tunbridge Wells, enabling the public to donate the items in most demand simply by scanning items with their mobile phones.

The Donation Stations, developed in partnership with Tap for Change, display a series of items from shampoo to pasta within a virtual shop – each with a unique QR code that can be scanned to donate the money needed to purchase that item directly to Nourish Community Foodbank.

Once scanned the user can pay for the item quickly and easily using Apple Pay or their card, and subsequently the charity can see a series of analytics of how many donations have been made and for individual items. Items displayed at the digital versions of the Donation Station can be easily changed on a regular basis ensuring every pound donated by the public goes towards items most in demand.

The idea for the Donation Stations was born out of the increased demand for the services of Nourish, and the need for more cash donations to help the Food Bank have more control over the items that they could buy and supply to their customers. This comes as Nourish Food Bank have found that the items most in need are tinned goods, pasta, toiletries and fresh fruit and vegetables, with a lack of physical donations of such products hindering its ability to serve those in the community who need the most support.

Dawn Stanford, Operations Director of Nourish Community Food Bank, said: “While we have historically received large volumes of physical donations of food and other items to the foodbank, we have increasingly used cash donations to help us purchase cost-effectively and to keep a balance of the right items in stock. These donation stations will not only help increase these donations, but also show us to be the innovative and future thinking charity that we strive to be”

James Wood, from Tap for Change, said: “We set up Tap for Change to help charities create new, innovative ways of taking donations. With the popularity of contactless giving increasing, we wanted to develop a new product specifically for Food Banks who have, unfortunately, seen a huge increase in demand. We think these Donation Stations will reduce friction in the donating process and the opportunity for multiple locations makes it easier for the general public to choose to donate to their local Food Bank at a time and in a place that suits them.”

The Donation Stations are sponsored by London based marketing agency Earnest (who set up Tap for Change) and will pay for the stations to be tested across 10 sites around Tunbridge Wells, with the aim to roll out more across Kent and nationwide following the pilot scheme.

For more information contact James Wood at james.wood@earnest-agency.com or Sarah Raine at sarah@nourishcommunityfoodbank.org.uk

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Visit Tap for Change to find out more about Earnest Labs‘ work to enable contactless charitable giving, and if you’d be interested in exploring new ideas that could benefit your business or your community, we’re always happy to hear from you.