How we spend your money
All non-profits need some amount of cash to operate, we are no different. However, very few do more with your donation than Simple Gesture. The reason is our system is ‘near zero’ cost.
The food we collect is donated by people like you, and the transportation of that food from households to pantries is also donated. This allows us to use the dollars you donate to gain an incredible return.
We spend money on;
- Operating our system; website, database, and supporting services like emailing, texting, and route optimization.
- Helping chapters register more donors. Often times, we are directly involved to fund donor drives.
- Providing supplies; mainly reusable bags. (Although, most chapters line up a brand sponsor to cover this cost).
When we register a new donor, we can expect just over $1000 of food from that donor. This is over the typical participation cycle of 5 years. Each events donation is that big, but over time it really adds up. Here are some numbers to explain;
- The average donor participates 60% of the time
- Most chapters have 12 events a year, that’s an average of 7 bags per year per donor.
- The bag has an average weight of 14.2 lbs of food, and a value of $2.20 per lb.
- When you add it all up, that’s just over $1000 in 5 years.
Build a Food Machine
We look at your donation in a very special way. Think of it this way.
You can give $100 to a food bank or pantry. A good one will convert that to about $280 of nutritious food on the wholesale/private label market. The problem is, once that food has been consumed it’s gone. Another $100 is needed.
What if you could spend $100 to build a food machine? A machine that keeps on making food! That’s what Simple Gesture is all about.
We build a food machine.
The section above explains it, the average donor keeps giving food for 5 years!
It costs us about $16 to on-board a donor. That may seem like a lot, but when you take into account that donor will provide over $1000 in food that’s $62 of food for every dollar we spend.
Let’s go back to that same $100 that could buy $280 of food. We can turn your $100 into over $6000 of food. That’s 22 times more food going to people that truly need it.
The hidden value; its even more important than food
We strongly believe the current hunger relief systems need a complete overhaul. They typically report results in pounds and “meals served”. There are practical reasons to do it this way, but the data is not painting a complete picture.
People relying on hunger-relief programs are twice as likely to develop serious health issues because of the food they eat.
Tour your local Food Bank or Pantry. More than 70% of the food is either expiring produce or high sugar expiring bakery items. The system relies on foods grocers and other food establishments are disposing. They get fined in most states if they take it to a land fill, and the cost to dispose of food is high.Instead, Food Banks and Pantry’s are picking up that food and getting it into their programs. They rely on these foods.
“A SIMPLE GESTURE” wants to change the system. We want to provide Food Banks and Pantry’s with “Center-of-Plate” foods. If we can change the items they provide we can help people that need support with the nutrition and self-esteem that comes from better food.
To put it bluntly; giving people calories is not good enough. If we want to help them work out of the problems that got them to need this food, we need to give them better food.
Think of it this way; one in three single mom households are food insecure. Those children must be fed better food. Food is not just about health, it’s about self-esteem. We need to let our neighbors in need know they matter, and providing healthy food is a great way to get that done.
