Current Use and Demand for Digital Tools to Enhance Food Pantry Management: Findings from a Nationwide Survey

The objective of this study was to define the types of digital tools currently used and desired by food pantries for pantry management. A nationwide online survey of U.S. food pantries was conducted by searching the foodpantries.org database. Surveys were sent via e-mail and completed using Google Forms. The most desired food pantry app/software features included staff and volunteer scheduling (49.2%); inventory management (42.1%); communicating with volunteers and staff (35.7%); client registration at the pantry (35.4%); and tracking pantry statistics (33.7%). Overall, food pantry staff and volunteers desire access to digital tools related to both staff/volunteer and client management.

本研究旨在明确当前美国食品救济站（food pantry）用于自身管理的数字工具的现有使用类型及期望获取类型。研究团队通过检索foodpantries.org数据库，针对美国境内的食品救济站开展了全国性线上调查。调查以电子邮件形式发放，采用Google Forms完成问卷填写。受访者最为期望的食品救济站应用程序/软件功能包括：员工与志愿者排班（49.2%）、库存管理（42.1%）、与志愿者及员工沟通（35.7%）、救济站服务对象登记（35.4%）以及追踪救济站运营统计数据（33.7%）。总体而言，食品救济站的员工与志愿者均期望获取同时覆盖员工/志愿者管理与服务对象管理的数字工具。