Setting Up Your Infrastructure

Beginning with the right infrastructure for the project will ensure it runs smoothly and is equipped to handle day-to-day operations and enable growth.

Get a mailing address

Having a reliable mailing address is important for formal communications, receiving donations and handling any official documentation. It also provides a sense of legitimacy to your organization. You can get a PO Box, or ask a coalition member to agree to accept mail for you at their office.

Set up phone and email accounts

Having dedicated phone lines and email accounts will help you manage inquiries, coordinate with partners and keep communication channels open. Ensure that these accounts are regularly monitored so that no important messages are missed. Google Voice offers a free voice option. 

Launch a website

Start with a website that just includes basic information about the organization and its goals, which will be built up over time with resources and other information that will be useful for key partners, community members and project beneficiaries. Start by choosing a domain name and purchasing it with a registrar like Godaddy or similar. You can use an inexpensive webhost like Wix, WPEngine, SquareSpace or Godaddy’s Website Builder to get started.

Set up a workspace

While nowadays almost everything happens virtually, having a physical space for your project will enhance the project’s credibility and can be helpful as an opportunity to host team members and coordinate logistics. If renting your own office space is a challenge due to budget or other reasons, you might want to consider a co-working space or a partnership with a local organization or business that has a physical location as a way to give your project a home. If you decide to use a physical space, equip your office with necessary supplies and technology, such as computers, printers and meeting space to facilitate daily operations. Investing in good-quality equipment can improve efficiency and reduce operational disruptions.

Infrastructure Alignment

Choosing tech tools

From the get-go, you’ll want coalition members to have access to essential work tools including email, virtual meetings, calendars and shared documents. But there are many to choose from.

If there’s a large business, corporation or nonprofit in your community, you may consider choosing to use some of the same technology and communications platforms they use. In our case, Hormel Foods used the Microsoft platforms including Teams. Given how many Hormel Foods team members were participating and knowledgeable of that platform for virtual meetings, we started there for optimal compatibility. The downside is that only paid users can set up and manage meetings, though it’s easy for guests to join for free. 

Google provides many of the needed tools, with both free and paid versions, and is another good starting option. Plus, many people already have Gmail accounts, so they can hit the ground running.

Documents

We found that most coalition members use Google email or have accounts they can access. For document sharing, collaboration and storage, we found Google Drive to work well. Without a paid organization plan, document and folder sharing is a bit awkward, as sometimes you have to individually share each new item with a long list of people. And not everyone has the same permissions.

• Google Sheets works well for storing our master resource database and metrics center.
• We create and file a Google Doc for each campaign report, which are centralized in a shared folder.
• We share document Templates, including our standard Google Presentations, in a central folder as well, and we use Google Presentations so that anyone who is giving a presentation can borrow from it or customize it to the meeting need.
  

Email

• We added hometownfoodsecurity.org branded email several months after the coalition gained speed. Perhaps for that reason, most members use their own personal or work email by default.
• Starting out, we suggest creating a Gmail account for the coalition which can be used to create a shared calendar, shared document folder and dedicated email address.
• As a coalition, many are participating as a representative of their organizations, and it wouldn’t be a best practice to ask them to use a different email.
• We suggest making branded emails available, especially for those who may not want to use their personal email.
• We also suggest that email boxes be set up for active coalition participants. They can use the coalition email as a forwarder, so emails sent to that address get added to the coalition’s customer relationship manager (CRM) database, if applicable.

Customer Relationship Manager (CRM)

• Having a centralized database of coalition contacts is crucial for any coalition or nonprofit. Without one, it’s like starting each event, campaign or fundraising effort from scratch. You want to preserve as much knowledge as you can, share it, and have it readily available for deployment.
• Many may be able to use an email marketing platform like Mailchimp as your CRM. It can store all the contact information you want, and helps you segment and tag individuals for later targeting. The drawback is that it has a tough time with more complex operations like adding detailed notes to or remembering past actions of a contact, whereas a CRM can track an entire conversation history with an individual or company.
• We suggest using at least a simple, dedicated CRM like Zoho’s basic version to have a centralized repository of detailed information. You will find it useful, perhaps indispensable!
• We suggest having a named point person in charge of making sure information is being captured well in your CRM.
• Your member nonprofits or businesses probably already use some CRM. The most common is Salesforce, which almost any salesperson will be familiar with. There are many geared just to nonprofits as well. If you have someone familiar with a CRM that is willing to help, that’s the best place to start. Though the coalition should definitely have its own account rather than mixing it in with another organization.
  

Build partnerships and a network of advisors

Create partnerships with academic institutions or researchers who align with your project’s value—academic research often provides important state and national level data allowing local groups to compare and benchmark their communities. Advisors can guide you into the extensive research on food security.

Develop an engaged volunteer network

Mobilizing volunteers is key to achieving and supporting your coalition’s efforts. Diversify the ways you’re able to connect with potential volunteers—whether it’s through social media, email, existing volunteer networks from partners or in-person activations. Keep track of volunteer contact info in a CRM so you’re able to reach out to those that are most active when you need volunteers for activations. Be sure to engage all ages and walks of life and communicate volunteer opportunities in a way that is appealing to others.