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8. How to stay organised
Between farms, volunteers and beneficiaries, you will have a lot of information to collate about your local area. It can easily get a little overwhelming if you haven’t got processes in place. Luckily, Foodrise has been doing this for a number of years. Here are some ideas based on what has worked for us:
A database of farmers & beneficiaries
Creating a spreadsheet is a great way to keep up to date with your farmer contacts. If there are multiple gleaners reaching out to farmers, a google sheet is great for live documents. Below is an example of how we have organised things:
It’s also good to create a database of the beneficiaries in your local area. Key information to gather is:
| Name of organisation | Do they have a van to collect produce? |
| Location | Do they have crates to pack into? |
| Type of organisation | What quantities can they accept? |
Volunteer management
Creating a sign up form is the easiest way to recruit volunteers. There are multiple free platforms you can use. Google form is very straight forward. The key information you want to have from your volunteers is:
- Name
- Postcode Location
- Contact number
- Email address
- Age (*esp for under 18)
- If they can drive/ and have use or access to a car
- Any disabilities / extra needs
Recording gleans
Keeping track of your gleaning data is helpful for your group but also if you want to apply for funding.
Setting up an online form is the most straight forward way of capturing this information that then is captured in a central database. This is the information you will need:
- Date of Glean
- Farm location
- Number of volunteers
- Total hours gleaned
- Produce gleaned
- Total kg (separated by produce type)
- Beneficiaries
- Notes
