Today I am meeting Véronique Beaulieu-Fowler, director of programs and Camille Dupuis, senior advisor communication and philanthropy at Food Banks of Quebec (FBQ). FBQ is a network of 32 direct members across Quebec. Members serve more than 1,200 affiliated local community organizations, which respond to 1.9 million requests for food aid each month.
With its team of six employees, FBQ's main mission is to provide logistical support to its members by distributing food and monetary donations in an equitable manner.
Challenges before switching to Zeffy
A need for a new online donation software.
Before discovering Zeffy in 2020, FBQ used a custom solution to process online donations. Although the system was outdated, FBQ did not rely too heavily on online donations.
However, since the pandemic, the need to easily collect online donations has become an urgent priority.
The 100% free solution
Also in 2020, a member of Zeffy's team contacted Véronique. When Véronique spoke about Zeffy to Camille, she was happy to discover a platform that was easy to use. She opened an account and integrated the donation form on the Food Banks of Quebec's website. Within two days, the donations began to flow.
For her part, Camille especially appreciates that 100% of the costs are redirected to FBQ's mission.
“The platform is also easy to use and stable. I never felt like we lost a donation because of a bug.”
Features used
Donations
Offer your website visitors an efficient and intuitive way to give to your cause.
Peer-to-peer campaigns
Make it easy for your community to participate in your fundraising efforts.
Ticketing
Sell more tickets for your next fundraising event with frictionless ticketing forms.
eCommerce
Diversify your fundraising by opening on online store for your nonprofit.
Raffles & Lotteries
Easily launch a raffle with our numbered ticketing options.
Auction
Diversify your fundraising by inviting your donors to bid on items.
Memberships
Make it easy for your supporters to register as a member to your cause.
Donor management
Diversify your fundraising by inviting your donEngage with the right donors at the right time with seamless donor management.ors to bid on items.
Results
Although they originally just used the platform for donations, FBQ has begun to explore some of its other applications. “A few months ago, a group of cyclists wanted to raise donations for us. We used the donation campaign template and it went really well! ” Donations were directly deposited into FBQ's bank account without the group having to handle anything. Receipts were also issued automatically.
On the database side, FBQ wishes to evolve towards a more complete solution than Excel. For now, Camille is doing a monthly export of donations to Excel, but she is keeping an eye on what is happening with Zeffy on the donor management side. As the team at Zeffy has always been attentive to their needs, they know that the solution will adapt well to their needs.
Thanks to Zeffy, FBQ saved almost $16,000 in transaction fees. $16,000 more to help provide food aid to people in vulnerable situations.
