Board Liaison for Food Banks
A food bank is a 501(c)(3) that runs a serious logistics operation — sourcing, storing and distributing millions of pounds of food through a network of partner agencies — and, for many, a membership in the Feeding America network. That gives its board oversight duties most nonprofit boards never face: food safety, the valuation and reporting of donated food, and the health of the partner-agency network, on top of ordinary governance and fundraising.
Board Liaison for Food Banks keeps the board record where those duties live: the packet and minutes, the food-safety and compliance items with an owner and a status, conflict-of-interest disclosures, and the committee materials behind the numbers — together, so a food bank board can see its obligations at a glance instead of reconstructing them.
A food bank board oversees food safety — the handling of perishable, donated product at scale, and the audits and standards that come with it — where a lapse is a real public-health and liability risk. And it oversees in-kind reporting, because most of a food bank’s “revenue” is donated food valued by the pound, which shapes the audit, the Form 990, and how the organization measures itself. Board Liaison for Food Banks keeps the food-safety compliance items and the financial-oversight materials on the board record, with an owner and a status, so both are visible and documented. Confirm your obligations against your network agreement and qualified professionals.
The two oversight duties unique to a food bank board: food safety (handling donated product at scale, audits, standards) and in-kind reporting (valuing donated food and what it does to the audit and Form 990).
4 min readWhat a food bank board of directors is responsible for: governing a 501(c)(3) that runs a large food operation, overseeing food safety and in-kind reporting, the partner-agency network, and network membership standards.