Every volunteer organisation in the Netherlands has noticed the reduced willingness in society to volunteer. Voedselbanken Nederland is no exception. 'The food banks do fantastic work. But literally everyone, from employees in the branches to the entire BoD, is a volunteer,' says Xavier van Ardenne, associate at Strategy&. 'That greatly increases the impact of the dwindling volunteer supply, which in turn creates additional obstacles to the other challenges faced by Voedselbanken Nederland.'
1,000,000 People in the Netherlands live below the poverty line
5.47 million groceries
'One of Voedselbanken's volunteers told us that the Voedselbanken Nederland is the largest volunteer organisation in the world. And with over 13,000 volunteers, that could well be true. But it's a very complex organisation financially speaking, and even more so logistically,' Xavier continues. 'Voedselbanken Nederland supports people struggling to make ends meet with free food. Often those products are donated by manufacturers, as they're usually no longer wanted by supermarkets because, for example, they’re nearing the best-before date. In 2022, 162,000 people were served from 172 branches with a total of 5.47 million groceries distributed worth €86 million. This saved a huge amount of food from being wasted.'
Competition for food streams
'It is precisely financial and logistics specialists that Voedselbanken Nederland needs to run it all, and those are, of course, thin on the ground. And on a voluntary basis, those kinds of roles are even more difficult to fill. At the same time, the workload is only increasing due to other challenges, such as a declining supply due to better stock management at supermarkets, a growing number of requests for help and new initiatives competing for the same food streams.'
Persons received food assistance from Voedselbanken Nederland in 2022, an all-time record
Products distributed in 2022, a growth of over 30%
Entice with a different kind of value
‘How do we bring in qualified professionals to help us continue to do our job, without having to pay them?’ is how Xavier sums up the question with which Voedselbanken Nederland approached Strategy&. ‘“And,” they added, “before you get started, you should come by to get a taste of the atmosphere here for yourself.” Since at the same time there was also the desire to streamline the financial processes, we went on a visit with the PwC colleagues who would take the job on. And it was very special. The energy, the drive, the conviction, the way people work together and the naturalness with which everyone does what needs to be done is incredibly valuable. And truly inspired us. Literally, because it steered us in the right direction for a solution. Because if you can't offer money for highly skilled labour, you have to entice people with a different kind of value. And other kinds of value is something they have in abundance at Voedselbanken Nederland.'
Comprehensive target scan
'We furthermore performed a comprehensive target scan. We see opportunities especially with large retailers, supermarket chains and corporates. But also, for example, with specialised SMEs, non-profit organisations, institutions of higher education that can offer internships at Voedselbanken Nederland, and employment agencies and secondment agencies looking to enrich CVs. We made our advice very concrete and tangible, with recommendations for conversation openers, templates, forms and so on – as complete as possible. While our model initially focuses on the financial position, it's directly transferable to other roles, such as logistics and legal. And that is very much needed, because in order to continue providing assistance, Voedselbanken Nederland itself can use all the help it can get. In any case, we have now very happily and with great admiration established a solid foundation for greater continuity.'
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Social satisfaction
'The strategic solution we presented is based on the insight that it’s very interesting for both the professional and the organisation where that professional is employed to have them work for Voedselbanken Nederland. That’s because, although there is no financial compensation, it generates a special intangible return. Such as a unique work experience and a great sense of social satisfaction among those who are “seconded”. Plus the opportunity to develop new skills and expand the employee's and the organisation's network. And on top of that, we also saw a strong positive effect on the organisation's reputation and social impact, which in turn has a positive correlation with the labour market.'