Volunteers log food in and parcels out on a tablet form that feeds a Google Sheets stock list. Each night, staples below a week's supply move to a published most-needed list, and every Thursday it goes to food drive organizers on WhatsApp.
Typical results
Nightly
Most-needed list rebuilt from live stock
≈2 hrs/wk
Coordinator time on needs questions saved
Weekly
WhatsApp broadcast to food drive organizers
Figures reflect typical results for this kind of automation.
The challenge
Food drives bring in whatever people think of, so the pantry ends up with shelves of pasta and canned corn while oil, rice and baby formula run out. The list of needs on the website is updated by hand when someone remembers, and schools and congregations planning a drive work from a list that is weeks old.
Before and after
Staple shortages per month
−30%Coordinator hours per week on needs updates
−67%Share of drive donations matching current needs
+71%The automation
Volunteers record food coming in and parcels going out on a tablet form, which updates a Google Sheets stock list by item. Every night Make compares each staple with the weekly need for about 300 family parcels and moves anything under 7 days of supply to a most-needed list published on the donation page. Every Thursday the current list goes out as a WhatsApp broadcast to the schools, congregations and companies that run food drives.
How it works
- 01
Stock logged on a tablet
Volunteers record each delivery and every parcel packed on a tablet form, which updates the stock count per item.
- 02
Nightly supply check
Each night Make divides the stock of every staple by the weekly need for about 300 family parcels.
- 03
Most-needed list rebuilt
Staples under 7 days of supply move to the most-needed list, and items back above two weeks of supply drop off it.
- 04
Published on the donation page
The donation page shows the current list, so anyone planning a drive or a single drop-off sees what is short today.
- 05
Thursday WhatsApp broadcast
Every Thursday the list goes as a WhatsApp broadcast to the schools, congregations and companies that run food drives.
Starts from
- Tablet stock form
Delivers
- Most-needed list online
- Thursday WhatsApp broadcast
- Stock list by item
The impact
Staple shortages fall by about 30%, because drives collect what the shelves are short of. Fewer surplus items pile up, volunteers stop updating the website by hand, and the coordinator saves about 2 hours a week of answering "what do you need right now" calls and messages.
Questions about this automation
How is the weekly need for each item set?
Staff set it once per staple in the stock sheet, based on what a standard family parcel contains and how many parcels go out each week. When the number of families changes, updating one figure recalculates every item, and seasonal needs, such as extra formula or holiday food, can be set for a period.
Who receives the Thursday broadcast?
Organizers who have opted in, such as school parents' committees, congregation volunteers and company social teams. They join by sending a message to the pantry's WhatsApp number or through a short form, and can leave at any time. The broadcast includes the list, drop-off hours and a link to the donation page.
How are the starting stock numbers set?
Volunteers count the shelves once, usually over a week, and that count becomes the opening stock for each staple. The pantry also provides a tablet or phone for the intake form, the parcel contents, the donation page for the list and a WhatsApp sender number. Simple automations like this are usually live within days.