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社区食品赈济站（food pantry）在运营管理中实际使用及期望配备的数字工具类型。本研究通过检索foodpantries.org数据库，针对美国社区食品赈济站开展了全国性线上调查。调查问卷以电子邮件形式发放，采用谷歌表单（Google Forms）完成填写。受访者最期望获得的社区食品赈济站应用程序/软件功能依次为：工作人员与志愿者排班（49.2%）、库存管理（42.1%）、与志愿者及工作人员沟通（35.7%）、赈济站服务对象登记（35.4%）以及赈济站统计数据追踪（33.7%）。总体而言，社区食品赈济站的工作人员与志愿者均期望获取覆盖人员/志愿者管理与服务对象管理两类场景的数字工具。