2. Qualities of Food Bank Websites
• Reviewed 200 food bank sites to discover both the functional and
visual qualities of the best Food Bank websites.
• Considered website "theme" qualities, i.e., colors, fonts, layout,
images, banner, navigation
• First viewing ranked sites by High, Medium, Low – relative ranking
based on visual quality
• Second viewing of 36 high ranked sites confirmed key functions
• Content Management System used by high-ranking sites
• WordPress (5)
• Drupal (5)
• ExpressionEngine (4)
• ASP.NET (3)
• Convio (2)
• Other
3. Visual Qualities of Food Bank Websites
• Common discovery on visually-attractive sites
o Slider dominates many designs
o Fixed width
o Two page templates
o Home page
o Section/internal page with section menu in left sidebar
o Elegant menu, clear navigation
o Some horizontal secondary menus
o Quick Find on Actions – Donate, Volunteer, Give Food
o Lightbox to grab attention (Chicago, Pittsburg, Eastern Wisc)
o Search box; Social Media connections prominently set at top
o Clean footer, possibly duplicates main menus/functions
4. Functional Qualities of Food Bank Websites
• Discovered primary functions
o Volunteer – Convio, Volgistics, VolunteerHub, other
o Donation – Convio, Network for Good
o Email List Signup – Constant Contact, Emma, Convio
o Virtual Food Drive – Aidmatrix, Convio
o Mobile or Responsive Design
• Measured functions based on seamless integration
within the website
5. Functional Qualities of Websites
• Common Elements of High Functioning Sites
o Agency Locator / Find a Food Pantry / Get Help / Meals on Wheels
o Blog
o Board login / Employee login
o Community / Events / News / Photos / Videos
o Connections to Sponsors, Partners
o Food Drive Signup
o Food Recalls
o Join Our Mobile Community (FB/ South Jersey)
o Metrics on food in warehouse (Hawaii, RFBO
o Nutrition
o Personal Fundraising (FB/Rockies
o Programs Highlight (almost micro-site)
o Resources
o Sponsors / Partners
o Take Action / Advocacy
o Virtual Tour (FB/NW Indiana)
6. List of the Best Food Bank Websites
Mobile/
Location City State Volunteer Donate VFD Email Mgmt CMS Resp Web Page
Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank Akron OH Convio Convio n/a Convio ASP.NET http://www.akroncantonfoodbank.org
America's Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, Inc.
Savannah GA Sabretech Sabretech Aidmatrix WordPress http://www.helpendhunger.org
Atlanta Community Food Bank Atlanta GA Convio Convio Convio Drupal http://www.acfb.org
Capital Area Food Bank Washington DC VolunteerMatrix
internal WordPress Resp http://www.capitalareafoodbank.org
Central Pennsylvania Food Bank Harrisburg PA embed embed DotNetNuke No http://www.centralpafoodbank.org
City Harvest New York NY None internal internal ExpressionEngine Mobile http://www.cityharvest.org
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin Milwaukee WI Convio Convio Convio Drupal No http://www.feedingamericawi.org/
Feeding America, Kentucky’s HeartlandElizabethtown KY internal NFG Joomla! http://www.feedingamericaky.org
Feeding South Florida Pembroke Park FL ColdFusion http://www.feedingsouthflorida.org
FeedMore Richmond VA ExpressionEngine No http://www.feedmore.org
Food Bank For New York City New York NY Salesforce /Convio Convio
off internal ColdFusion No http://www.foodbanknyc.org
Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina
Raleigh NC Convio http://www.foodbankcenc.org
Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano Concord CA internal NFG Aidmatrix ConstantContact WordPress Mobile http://www.foodbankccs.org
Food Bank of Northeast Georgia Athens GA internal internal Ruby on Rails http://www.foodbanknega.org
Food Gatherers Ann Arbor MI VolunteerHubConvio internal http://www.foodgatherers.org
Forgotten Harvest Oak Park MI Cervis internal ConstantContact ASP.NET http://www.forgottenharvest.org
Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan
Detroit MI internal Convio internal Convio http://www.gcfb.org
Good Shepherd Food Bank Auburn ME internal ConstantContact Django http://www.gsfb.org
Greater Chicago Food Depository Chicago IL internal Convio Aidmatrix internal http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org
Harvest Hope Food Bank Columbia SC internal Blackbaud Aidmatrix internal ExpressionEngine No http://www.harvesthope.org
High Plains Food Bank Amarillo TX internal internal CakePHP No http://www.hpfb.org
MANNA FoodBank Asheville NC Volgistics internal internal PHP No http://www.mannafoodbank.org
North Texas Food Bank Dallas TX internal internal ASP.NET No http://www.ntfb.org
Oregon Food Bank Portland OR embed internal Aidmatrix ConstantContact SiteCore No http://www.oregonfoodbank.org
Philabundance Philadelphia PA Convio Convio WordPress No http://www.philabundance.org
Rhode Island Community Food Bank Providence RI internal ConstantContact DotNetNuke Mobile http://www.rifoodbank.org
San Francisco and Marin Food Banks San Francisco CA Democracy-in-action Drupal No http://www.sffoodbank.org
Second Harvest Heartland St. Paul MN CiviCore Convio Convio No http://www.2harvest.org
Second Harvest North Florida Jacksonville FL VolunteerMatrix
Blackbaud Emma Drupal No http://www.wenourishhope.org
The Food Bank of Western MassachusettsHatfield MA internal internal Aidmatrix ConstantContact WordPress No http://www.foodbankwma.org
Three Square Food Bank Las Vegas NV Volgistics DonorPerfect Vertical Response No http://www.threesquare.org
United Food Bank Mesa AZ internal internal internal No http://www.unitedfoodbank.org
Hunger Free Minnesota MN Drupal http://www.hungerfreemn.org/
Association of Arizona Food Banks ExpressionEngine http://www.azfoodbanks.org/
7. Three Square – Las Vegas
Strong visual; clear actions; main functions (Donate, Volunteer, etc) tightly-integrated
8. Harvest Hope – Columbia, SC
- Colorful display with clear actions; perhaps too busy
9. City Harvest (New York)
- Light, clean home page; ExpressEngine CMS
- Fresh, bright menus; clear footer
- Section pages (Volunteer, Donate, Programs) lead with black & white photo
10. North Texas FB – Dallas, TX
Fresh look, strong visuals on action items
11. The FB of Western Massachusetts
- More conventional, “professional” look with clear navigation
13. Qualities of Non-Profit Websites
• Reviewed several large non-profit sites for
qualities on newly designed sites
• Review provided for discussion purposes,
not intended to display the absolute best
• These sites used a stylized look to match
organization's cause
• Many of these sites highlighted stories,
photos of audience
• Also, display key elements prominently…
o Donate, Stories, Photos, Videos
14. Austin Pets Alive
- Clear tagline to tell people what they do; distinctive home/internal page design change
- 3 distinct things you can do; Content is fresh; WordPress
- Zoho CRM for Volunteer/Adoption forms; NFG/Donations; Google Calendar; Custom Store
15. Acumen Fund
- Innovative “one-page” design on home page; uses Infographic for accomplishment timeline
- Design popular with site developers, though some visitors may get “lost” on home page
- Distinct things you can do – “What We’ve Accomplished,” “What We’ve Learned,” etc.
16. Livestrong
- Strong use of colors – Yellow/Black
- Multi-column menus; bold design on forms
- Distinct actions – Get Cancer Help / Take Action
17. Amnesty International
- Image rotation at top; clear actions below
- Clear tagline to tell people what they do; distinctive home/internal page design change
- 3 distinct things you can do; Sign Up/Donate Now/Act Now; Drupal
18. Charity:Water
- Simple design; plenty of white space
- All actions – Fundraise, Sponsor, Info, Birthdays, Donate -- are available above the fold
- Bold HOME design and secondary navigation menus (Water Projects, Get Involved, About)
20. Girls Action Foundation
- Simple design; plenty of white space; Drupal
- Good balance between images and text
- Clear navigation & prominent calls to action
21. Family Promise
- Good use of colors to brand site
- Simple to read and taglines explain what’s going on; Drupal
- Constant Contact for subscribers; NFG/Donations; Yahoo Store
