Looking for a food bank business plan? You're in the right place.
A food bank plan gets read for its pounds and its cost per pound as much as for its buildings. How many pounds will move in the first year, and where does the food come from? What does a pound cost to receive, store and hand on? How much of the food is donated, and how is that counted next to the cash? What happens to the budget if a grant or a county contract comes in short? A template with blank headings won't show what a workable answer looks like.
This article walks through a complete sample plan for a hub food bank in Seattle, Washington, section by section: the need, the partner pantries it supplies, the funding mix, the warehouse and fleet, the volunteers and the five-year financials, ending with a downside case.
What you'll get from each part:
- The executive summary: a one-page statement of the pounds, the funding and the first three years, written for a program officer with a stack to read
- The need and the supply: a way to describe demand with a dated federal figure and to name the state and federal food programs without overclaiming
- The funding mix: how individual gifts, corporate giving, foundation grants and public contracts divide the budget, and why no one source should carry the organization
- Pounds, sources and cost per pound: a worked table of where each pound comes from and what it costs, which is the figure funders compare
- Donated food and net assets: a clear decision on why in-kind food stays out of cash revenue and how the statements would show it
- Volunteers against paid staff: a count of labor hours that shows what the payroll line has to cover
- The downside case: an answer to what happens when every funding stream comes in 20% short, with the steps the board takes
If you're writing a plan for a food bank, a pantry network or another organization that runs on gifts, contracts and donated goods, use this as a model for the structure. The organization is fictional, so take the parts that fit and replace the rest.
In this plan
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The Plan in Brief
Harbor Harvest Food Bank is a Seattle nonprofit that receives, stores and redistributes food. It opens on 1 January 2027 in a 14,000-square-foot warehouse in Georgetown, with a cooler, a freezer and one refrigerated truck. It supplies 30 partner pantries and meal programs and runs a Saturday market where households collect food directly. Executive director Marisol Reyes leads a team of 10 full-time staff by the end of Year 1, with about 120 regular volunteers.
Harbor Harvest grew out of a volunteer-run pantry in a Georgetown church hall that moved about 700,000 pounds in 2026. The new hub plans to distribute 2,000,000 pounds in Year 1 and 3,800,000 in Year 3.
The organization raises $1,242,000 in gifts and borrows nothing. A capital campaign supplies $482,000 for the cold rooms, truck, racking and launch. Founding donors supply a $760,000 operating reserve, sized to the downside case rather than the base case. All of it sits in signed gift agreements payable in January 2027.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cash revenue | $1,650,000 | $2,260,000 | $2,620,000 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($236,260) | $19,380 | $30,991 |
| Closing cash | $483,771 | $506,253 | $560,796 |
| Pounds distributed | 2,000,000 | 3,000,000 | 3,800,000 |
| Cash operating cost per pound | $0.90 | $0.73 | $0.67 |
Revenue here means cash only. Most of the food arrives donated, and its value is reported separately as a memo, because a donated pound is not income the organization can spend. At the planning value used here, the donated food is worth more than the cash budget, and the operating plan shows the figures.
Year 1 loses money. The staff, the warehouse and the cold rooms are all in place before the volume arrives, and funders pay on their own calendars. Year 2 is the first surplus. If every funding stream comes in 20% short, the board buys less food, delays hires and drops one post, and the reserve keeps cash positive for all five years (down to $68,762 at the end of Year 5), though the organization never returns to surplus on that path.
How Harbor Harvest Is Set Up
Legal name: Harbor Harvest Food Bank, a Washington nonprofit corporation. The IRS issued its 501(c)(3) determination letter in autumn 2026, and the registration with the Secretary of State's Charities Program was filed before any gift was solicited. The 2027 budget carries only the renewal. Governance: a seven-member volunteer board; no one holds an ownership interest. Premises: 14,000 square feet of leased warehouse and office in Georgetown, Seattle, on a five-year lease. Start date: 1 January 2027. Stage: pre-launch. The five-year lease is signed with no personal guarantee. The capital campaign is closed, with $482,000 in signed pledge agreements, and the founding donors' $760,000 is in signed gift agreements. Thirty partner agencies have signed letters of intent. The grants and contracts are in the status table under Raising the Money.
Why it exists
To get surplus and purchased food to the pantries and meal programs of south and central Seattle at a lower cost per pound than each of them could achieve alone, and to keep that food cold and safe on the way.
Where it should be by 2029
- 3,800,000 pounds distributed in Year 3, up from 2,000,000 in Year 1.
- 45 partner agencies by Year 3 and 52 by Year 5.
- A surplus in every year from Year 2, and cash equal to about three months of costs by the end of Year 3.
- No single funding source above a third of cash revenue.
What it does
| Activity | How it works | Share of pounds, Year 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Hub supply to partner pantries and meal programs | Partners order against a weekly list and collect or receive delivery | 85% |
| Saturday direct market | Households collect a set of staples, produce and, when stocked, frozen items | 15% |
What it is licensed and registered to do
The organization registers with the Washington Secretary of State's Charities Program before it solicits donations. The Washington State Department of Agriculture licenses food storage warehouses under chapter 69.10 RCW. Whether a nonprofit food bank needs that license, or is treated differently, is a question the organization puts to WSDA in writing before opening. It also asks Public Health – Seattle & King County whether the cooler, freezer and repacking area need a permit or plan review. The fit-out schedule allows for both, and $7,000 of start-up money is set aside for the license or inspection, the health-department review and the charity registration renewal.
Need and Supply in the Seattle Area
How much need there is
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service reports that 13.7% of U.S. households were food insecure at some point in 2024, and 5.4% had very low food security (report ERR-358, released 30 December 2025). Only that national figure is used here. Demand in Georgetown and the surrounding neighborhoods is evidenced differently: the church pantry's 2026 record, and the 30 partner agencies that signed letters of intent on the strength of their own waiting lists.
Where the food comes from
Two programs run through the Washington State Department of Agriculture supply food banks. The Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) is state-funded, dates from 1986 and can pay for food, operations, equipment and repairs. The federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) sends USDA Foods to the state, which passes them to local agencies, usually food banks, which in turn serve pantries and meal programs. Harbor Harvest expects to draw on both: TEFAP commodities as food, and EFAP money inside the state and county contracts line of its budget. A new agency has to be approved first. The application for TEFAP recipient status is filed with WSDA and not yet approved, the EFAP application is filed and not yet awarded, and the county food-security contract is under review. Nothing in the budget is awarded money from these three sources. If TEFAP approval slips, the 16% of pounds planned from commodities would come through the regional network instead, at the network fee of $0.08 a pound.
Three other channels fill the rest. A regional network allocates food to member food banks for a shared maintenance fee per pound. Grocery stores and farms release surplus. And drives run by schools, congregations and employers collect shelf-stable goods.
Who else moves food in the area
| Alternative | What it does | How Harbor Harvest differs by design |
|---|---|---|
| The regional food bank network | Allocates food to member agencies and also supplies Harbor Harvest | Partner, not rival; Harbor Harvest adds cold storage and local delivery on top of the allocation |
| Neighborhood pantries working alone | Distribute small volumes from their own sources | Customers of the hub, which cuts their sourcing effort |
| Community fridges and mutual-aid groups | Informal, fast, flexible | Complementary; they can order from the hub as partners |
| Surplus-food charities and rescue apps | Move prepared and near-date food | Source of supply, not substitute for a warehouse with temperature records |
The table describes roles, not rankings. Named competitors are left out because no sourced facts on their volumes or fees were available.
SWOT
| Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|
| A tested volunteer base and a track record at the church pantry | New warehouse, new team, new reporting duties |
| Cold storage and a refrigerated truck, which many small pantries lack | Year 1 loses money and draws on the reserve |
| 30 partner agencies signed before opening | About 30% of cash depends on public budgets |
| Opportunities | Threats |
|---|---|
| Growth in surplus donations from grocery and farm partners | A cut in state or county food funding |
| More partner pantries that need a supplier | A rise in the cost of bought food |
| A corporate giving program that matches volunteer hours | A cooler or freezer failure that spoils stock |
Who the Food Reaches
Partner agencies
A partner is a pantry, meal program or shelter that signs an agreement, keeps its own intake records and takes food on a weekly schedule. Year 1 starts with 30 partners and reaches 52 by Year 5. Partners receive about 85% of the pounds, which is 1,700,000 pounds in Year 1, or about 56,700 pounds per partner for the year.
Households at the Saturday market
About 15% of the pounds go straight to households: 300,000 pounds in Year 1, which at 680 pounds a household a year is about 440 household equivalents. A visit is counted at roughly 38 pounds, with about 18 visits a year.
What partners ask of the hub
Reliable weekly volume. Cold items that arrive cold. A pick list they can see in advance. And a hub that keeps the paperwork for USDA commodities, so each pantry does not have to.
Household equivalents
Across the hub and the partners, pounds convert to about 2,940 household equivalents in Year 1 and 5,590 in Year 3. That works out to about 83 equivalents per partner in Year 1, which fits small pantries. Many of their clients visit only a few times a year, so the number of different households reached is higher than the equivalents. The partner agencies keep their own client counts, and the hub's figure is an estimate built from pounds.
| Year 1 | Year 3 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pounds distributed | 2,000,000 | 3,800,000 | 4,700,000 |
| Household equivalents (680 pounds each) | 2,940 | 5,590 | 6,910 |
| Cash operating cost per household equivalent | $609 | $454 | $430 |
Raising the Money
Four funding lines, none above a third
| Funding line | Year 1 | Share | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Individual giving | $370,000 | 22% | About 200 monthly donors, 60 major and mid-level donors and 600 year-end and event donors |
| Corporate and workplace giving | $280,000 | 17% | About 28 corporate donors, average near $10,000 |
| Foundation grants | $500,000 | 30% | Nine grants paid on four dates |
| State and county food contracts | $500,000 | 30% | Reimbursed monthly against invoices |
How the asks are made
The executive director leads every foundation and contract application in Year 1. The development manager joins in month 4 and takes over the donor database, the year-end appeal and the corporate calendar. Foundation applications follow each funder's own cycle, and the budget books each payment on the date the cash is expected.
Where each line stands
| Line | Year 1 amount | Status at plan date |
|---|---|---|
| Individual giving | $370,000 | The church pantry's list of about 600 donors gave about $180,000 in 2026 (founding record); the rest is new |
| Corporate and workplace giving | $280,000 | Eleven corporate donors have verbally committed about $110,000; the rest is pipeline |
| Foundation grant, January payment | $110,000 | Awarded to a Seattle family foundation, written agreement signed |
| Foundation grant, April payment | $150,000 | Awarded to a regional health foundation, written agreement signed |
| Foundation grants, July and October payments | $240,000 | Pending: applications filed or due before March 2027, decisions expected between April and June |
| State and county food contracts | $500,000 | Pending, as described under Need and Supply; none awarded |
About $260,000 of the $500,000 in grants is awarded. The $500,000 of contract money is the least secure line in the budget, and the reserve is sized with that in mind.
Restricted and unrestricted money
Contract and most grant money comes with conditions about what it buys. Individual and corporate gifts are the freest dollars, and they pay for the posts that grants rarely fund: the executive director, the bookkeeper and the development manager. Individual and corporate giving stay above 38% of cash revenue in every year for that reason.
Cost to raise a dollar
Direct fundraising spend in Year 1 is $28,000 for appeals, events and online giving, against $370,000 of individual gifts, which is 8 cents per dollar before staff time. The $11,000 appeal budget goes mostly to the existing list. The other $17,000 (events and online) is expected to bring in about 260 new donors, roughly $65 each, recovered over later years of giving. Year 1 individual giving is made of about 200 monthly donors at $18 (near $43,000), 60 major and mid-level donors averaging $2,500 ($150,000) and 600 year-end and event donors averaging about $295 (near $177,000). Card and platform fees take a further $15,750 across the year.
Finding Donors, Food and Volunteers
The Year 1 marketing budget: $48,000
Marketing here has three jobs: donors, food donors and volunteers. $20,000 of launch spend is paid from the capital gifts and sits outside this budget.
| Spend | Year 1 | What it is expected to do |
|---|---|---|
| Appeal mail and email | $11,000 | The year-end appeal and two spring and summer asks to the church pantry's existing donor list of about 600 |
| Events | $9,000 | A spring luncheon and an autumn harvest night |
| Online giving and ads | $8,000 | A monthly-donor page and search ads for "donate food Seattle" style queries |
| Corporate partner program | $6,000 | Pitch decks, site visits and a volunteer-day calendar for the 28 corporate donors |
| Volunteer recruitment | $5,000 | Posts on volunteer boards, school and congregation notices, shift sign-up software |
| Communications and photography | $5,000 | An annual report and a handful of stories with photos, used by funders |
| Food drive kits and signage | $4,000 | Bins, flyers and a how-to for schools and workplaces |
Winning food
The food sourcing manager works three doors in sequence: grocery and wholesale rescue, farm gleaning, and drive hosts. Rescue, farms and drives supply 35% of pounds in every year, and Harbor Harvest buys only the 17% that the other channels cannot cover.
Winning volunteers
About 120 regular volunteers are expected in Year 1, each giving roughly 2.6 hours a week, 16,000 hours in all. The volunteer coordinator runs six weekly shifts and keeps a waiting list of 40 for the sorting line.
Marketing milestones
- January 2027: warehouse open, first partner deliveries.
- January 2027: first foundation payment of $110,000 received. April 2027: a $150,000 payment arrives and 25 partners are active.
- November 2027: 260,000 pounds, the peak month of the year, mostly the build-up of partners and donors, with a smaller lift from autumn food drives.
- December 2027: year-end appeal closes, 30 partners and about 2,000,000 pounds for the year.
From Loading Dock to Pantry Shelf
The warehouse
14,000 square feet at $19 a square foot a year all-in, which is $266,000 in Year 1. It holds about 600 pallet positions of dry racking, an 800-square-foot walk-in cooler (about 48 pallet positions), a 400-square-foot freezer (about 24), a sort-and-pack area for volunteers, two loading doors and offices for the staff.
Storage is checked separately for dry and perishable stock, at a planning weight of 1,000 pounds a pallet. About 25% of pounds are refrigerated or frozen. At the Year 5 volume that is about 3,200 pounds a day, and perishables are expected to leave within five to seven days, so the cooler and freezer hold roughly 16 to 23 pallets on an average day, with headroom for peak weeks. The dry 75% turns about every three weeks, which puts roughly 200 pallets on the racking, well inside the 600 positions. Pallets of canned goods can weigh well over 1,000 pounds, which tightens the dry check but does not break it.
How a pound moves
Food arrives by network truck, by Harbor Harvest's own truck or by donor drop-off. It is weighed on the pallet scale and logged by source, and temperature and date codes are checked. Volunteers sort and repack, and pallets go to racking, cooler or freezer. Partner orders are picked against a weekly list, and the truck delivers to partners who cannot collect. The Saturday market draws from the same stock.
Pounds, sources and cost
The sourcing mix is held constant, and the volumes grow.
| Source (pounds) | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional network allocation | 640,000 | 960,000 | 1,216,000 | 1,376,000 | 1,504,000 |
| Grocery rescue and farms | 620,000 | 930,000 | 1,178,000 | 1,333,000 | 1,457,000 |
| USDA and state commodities | 320,000 | 480,000 | 608,000 | 688,000 | 752,000 |
| Food drives | 80,000 | 120,000 | 152,000 | 172,000 | 188,000 |
| Purchased | 340,000 | 510,000 | 646,000 | 731,000 | 799,000 |
| Total distributed | 2,000,000 | 3,000,000 | 3,800,000 | 4,300,000 | 4,700,000 |
The cash cost of a pound is the year's cash operating cost divided by pounds distributed. It excludes depreciation and start-up costs.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash operating cost per pound | $0.90 | $0.73 | $0.67 | $0.65 | $0.63 |
| of which purchased food and network fee | $0.16 | $0.16 | $0.17 | $0.17 | $0.18 |
| of which everything else | $0.74 | $0.57 | $0.50 | $0.47 | $0.45 |
| Cash revenue per pound | $0.83 | $0.75 | $0.69 | $0.67 | $0.65 |
Year 1 costs more per pound because the team and the building are sized for the growth that follows. The $0.74 of non-food cost per pound in Year 1 falls to $0.45 by Year 5 largely because volume rises 2.35 times while the building stays the same and payroll grows 36%. No published food-bank figure was used to benchmark these costs. Monthly costs in the model are spread evenly while pounds climb, so a monthly cost per pound is not shown. The network's shared maintenance fee is $0.08 a pound in Year 1. The fee applies only to pounds received through the network, and it costs $51,200 in Year 1.
What donated food is worth
A donated pound is not income the organization can spend, so the forecast leaves it out. It is reported here as a memo at $1.60 a pound, a planning value set for this example. One value is applied to every donated pound for simplicity. In practice network allocations and USDA commodities are valued differently, and an auditor would agree the method, so the memo is indicative. The Financial Accounting Standards Board's 2020 update requires contributed nonfinancial assets to appear on their own line of the statement of activities.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donated and commodity pounds | 1,660,000 | 2,490,000 | 3,154,000 | 3,569,000 | 3,901,000 |
| Memo value at $1.60 a pound | $2,656,000 | $3,984,000 | $5,046,400 | $5,710,400 | $6,241,600 |
Added to the Year 1 cash revenue of $1,650,000, the memo would take reported Year 1 revenue to $4,306,000. The same amount would appear as food expense when the food goes out, so the surplus is unchanged apart from timing differences on food still in stock at year end.
Volunteers and paid staff
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volunteer hours | 16,000 | 21,000 | 26,000 | 29,000 | 31,000 |
| Paid warehouse and driver FTE | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Pounds per labor hour (paid FTE at 1,900 hours) | 85 | 98 | 107 | 112 | 116 |
Volunteers give about two thirds of the labor hours in Year 1 and about three quarters by Year 5. The paid warehouse lead supervises every shift. Volunteers do not drive the truck or operate the forklift. Volunteer sorting time is not valued in the statements. The pro bono legal and accounting help from board members is different: donated specialized services are generally recognized at fair value when they meet the accounting criteria, and the statements would show them. They are not estimated here.
The truck
One refrigerated box truck carries about 6,000 pounds a load. It collects half of the rescue pounds, because farms and larger donors deliver pallets themselves, and delivers 10% of the pounds bound for partners, because most partners collect their own orders. That is about 80 loads in Year 1 (52 pickups and 28 deliveries) and 188 in Year 5 (121 and 67), or roughly three working days in four by Year 5. Two warehouse associates are trained as relief drivers to cover leave and repairs. A second vehicle is not in the budget; a Year 5 load count above 200 would be the trigger to raise money for one.
Food safety and records
Temperature logs are kept for the cooler, freezer and truck. Every pallet carries a source and a date code, so a recall can be traced to the partners that received it. Pest control and sanitation are contracted, at $26,000 a year in Year 1 with packaging and monitors. The compliance coordinator keeps the TEFAP and EFAP records. Both programs publish their own reporting and storage conditions, and Harbor Harvest follows those rather than restating them.
Insurance
General and product liability, property and stock-spoilage cover, commercial auto, directors and officers, umbrella, volunteer accident and cyber cover, budgeted at $46,000 in Year 1.
Board and Staff
Marisol Reyes, executive director
Marisol has nine years in food banking, the last four as operations manager at a regional food bank warehouse, where she ran receiving, cold storage and a fleet of six trucks. Before the hub she ran the church pantry in Georgetown as a volunteer. She is paid $105,000 and has no ownership stake.
The board
Seven volunteers: a chair, a treasurer who is a CPA, a lawyer, a grocery supply-chain manager, a nurse, a representative of two partner pantries and a donor. The board approves the budget, sets the reserve policy and reviews the audit from Year 2. Audit fees begin in Year 2 by board policy. Whether the Charities Program or a funder requires an audit at this revenue level is a point to confirm with counsel and the Charities Program.
Where the team is thin
The team has no in-house finance lead until month 25, no experience yet with the volume of USDA commodity paperwork the hub will carry and only one driver. Cover comes from a part-time bookkeeper from month 3, the compliance coordinator from month 4 and two warehouse associates trained as relief drivers.
If the director leaves
The director of operations holds the supplier and fleet records and the treasurer can approve payments for up to 90 days. The board keeps key-person cover on the executive director.
Outside help
An outside accountant reviews the first-year numbers every quarter, and a pro bono lawyer reads partner agreements. Both are volunteers from the board's own network.
Budget and Five-Year Forecast
The forecast covers five years, monthly for 2027 and annual after that. It records cash only. Donated food, which makes up most of the pounds Harbor Harvest moves, is reported separately in the operating plan, and the note under the funding tables explains why.
Capital gifts and the reserve
| Use of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Refrigerated 18-foot box truck | $118,000 |
| Used electric forklift and pallet jacks | $36,000 |
| Pallet racking, dock plates and sort-line tables | $58,000 |
| Walk-in cooler and freezer installation with temperature monitoring | $132,000 |
| Warehouse and office fit-out: floors, lighting, offices, restrooms, volunteer area | $72,000 |
| Pallet scale, computers, phones, inventory system set-up | $24,000 |
| Legal: lease review, agency agreements, board policies and gift agreements | $15,000 |
| Warehouse license or inspection, health-department review, charity registration renewal | $7,000 |
| Launch: website, volunteer recruitment, first donor appeal | $20,000 |
| Operating reserve (Year 1 deficit and reimbursement lag) | $760,000 |
| Total uses | $1,242,000 |
| Source of funds | Amount |
|---|---|
| Capital campaign gifts (restricted to build-out, cold rooms, truck and launch) | $482,000 |
| Founding donors: operating reserve (board-designated) | $760,000 |
| Total sources | $1,242,000 |
Harbor Harvest opens on $1,242,000 of gifts and no debt. A capital campaign supplies $482,000, restricted to the cold rooms, the truck, the racking and the launch. Founding donors supply $760,000 as an operating reserve that the board has designated for that purpose. The balance sheet uses commercial labels, so the mapping is stated here. Paid-in capital is the opening net assets: $482,000 with donor restrictions, released as the equipment is bought, and $760,000 without restrictions. Retained earnings is the accumulated change in net assets. The borrowings row is zero because the organization borrows nothing. Donated food is the other mapping decision. It is not cash revenue, so the forecast leaves it out and the operating plan carries it as a memo. Audited statements would show it on its own line as contributed nonfinancial assets, with an equal food expense when the pounds go out (FASB ASU 2020-07 governs the presentation), which leaves the year-end surplus where this forecast shows it. Year 1 uses $318,229 of operating cash and the lowest month-end balance is about $390,000, so the base case needs far less than $760,000. The reserve is sized to the downside case, in which every funding stream runs 20% short and cash still ends Year 5 above $68,000. Closing cash at the end of 2027 equals about 99 days of Year 1 cash costs. The $482,000 capital pledges and the $760,000 reserve gifts are signed and payable in January 2027. The IRS determination letter and the Charities Program registration came first, so the budget carries only renewals and legal fees.
Operating figures behind the forecast
- The hub distributes 2,000,000 pounds in Year 1, then 3,000,000, 3,800,000, 4,300,000 and 4,700,000. Monthly volume in 2027 climbs from 90,000 pounds in January to 260,000 in November, mostly as partners and donors build up, with a smaller lift from autumn food drives (4% of pounds). Costs are spread evenly across the months while pounds climb, so a monthly cost per pound is not shown. The volunteer-run pantry that Harbor Harvest grew out of moved about 700,000 pounds in 2026.
- Pounds come from five sources in fixed shares: 32% allocated by the regional network, 31% from grocery rescue and farms, 16% from USDA and state commodities, 4% from food drives, and 17% bought. Year 1 is 640,000, 620,000, 320,000, 80,000 and 340,000 pounds.
- Bought food costs $0.78 a pound in Year 1, rising to $0.88 by Year 5. The 340,000 pounds bought in Year 1 cost $265,200.
- The shared maintenance fee is $0.08 a pound on food received through the regional network, rising to $0.09 by Year 5. The 640,000 pounds received in Year 1 cost $51,200. The network sets its own fee schedule, and the figure here is the plan's own.
- Donated and commodity food is treated as in-kind. It is not cash revenue, and it carries no cash cost beyond handling and the network fee. The operating plan shows it as a memo at a planning value of $1.60 a pound for every donated pound.
- Revenue enters the monthly view when it is received. The annual statements hold a one-month receivable on all revenue, which the monthly view does not show. Pledges are not accrued beyond that. State and county contract money is reimbursed against monthly invoices, at $41,667 a month for eight months and $41,666 for four.
- Individual giving in Year 1 is about 200 monthly donors at $18 a month (near $43,000), 60 major and mid-level donors averaging $2,500 ($150,000) and 600 year-end and event donors averaging about $295 (near $177,000). About 600 of the donors come from the church pantry's existing list and about 260 are new. Corporate and workplace giving is about 28 corporate donors at an average near $10,000. Foundation money is nine grants paid on four dates; about $260,000 of the Year 1 total is awarded and the rest is pending. Card and platform fees take 3.5% of individual giving and 1% of corporate giving.
- The paid operations team is a warehouse lead, two associates and a driver in Year 1, with a third associate from month 13. About 120 regular volunteers give 16,000 hours in Year 1, rising to 31,000 hours in Year 5. Volunteer time is not valued in the statements.
- Payroll adds 27% to wages for payroll taxes, health cover, paid leave and workers' compensation (15% for the part-time bookkeeper). Wages in the personnel table are launch rates. Pay raises of 3% a year appear as a separate line from Year 2.
- The warehouse is 14,000 square feet in Georgetown at $19 a square foot a year all-in, which is $266,000, rising 3% a year. Utilities cover the cooler and freezer, which run around the clock.
- The model charges no income tax because the organization holds 501(c)(3) status. Whether other Washington or local taxes apply to a given receipt or purchase is a question for counsel, and none is modeled. There is no debt, and any surplus stays in net assets.
Where the cash comes from
| Revenue stream | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual giving (without restrictions) | $370,000 | $500,000 | $580,000 | $640,000 | $690,000 |
| Corporate and workplace giving (mostly without restrictions) | $280,000 | $380,000 | $440,000 | $490,000 | $530,000 |
| Foundation grants (mostly with donor restrictions) | $500,000 | $700,000 | $810,000 | $855,000 | $915,000 |
| State and county food contracts (restricted, reimbursed) | $500,000 | $680,000 | $790,000 | $880,000 | $940,000 |
| Total revenue | $1,650,000 | $2,260,000 | $2,620,000 | $2,865,000 | $3,075,000 |
| Growth on prior year | – | 37% | 16% | 9% | 7% |
No funding source supplies more than 31% of Year 1 cash. Foundation grants and the state and county contracts are each 30% of Year 1 revenue and individual giving is 22%, and the corporate program is 17%. The shares barely move through Year 5. Individual and corporate giving are the least restricted dollars, and together they pay for the roles that grants and contracts rarely cover: the executive director, the bookkeeper and the development manager.
Month by month through 2027
| Month | Individual giving (without restrictions) | Corporate and workplace giving (mostly without restrictions) | Foundation grants (mostly with donor restrictions) | State and county food contracts (restricted, reimbursed) | Total revenue | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2027 | $18,500 | $11,200 | $110,000 | $41,667 | $181,367 | $31,677 |
| Feb 2027 | $18,500 | $14,000 | $0 | $41,667 | $74,167 | ($74,500) |
| Mar 2027 | $22,200 | $28,000 | $0 | $41,667 | $91,867 | ($56,969) |
| Apr 2027 | $22,200 | $33,600 | $150,000 | $41,667 | $247,467 | $97,146 |
| May 2027 | $22,200 | $14,000 | $0 | $41,667 | $77,867 | ($70,835) |
| Jun 2027 | $22,200 | $11,200 | $0 | $41,667 | $75,067 | ($73,609) |
| Jul 2027 | $18,500 | $11,200 | $130,000 | $41,667 | $201,367 | $51,486 |
| Aug 2027 | $22,200 | $14,000 | $0 | $41,667 | $77,867 | ($70,835) |
| Sep 2027 | $25,900 | $28,000 | $0 | $41,666 | $95,566 | ($53,305) |
| Oct 2027 | $29,600 | $33,600 | $110,000 | $41,666 | $214,866 | $64,856 |
| Nov 2027 | $55,500 | $39,200 | $0 | $41,666 | $136,366 | ($12,895) |
| Dec 2027 | $92,500 | $42,000 | $0 | $41,666 | $176,166 | $26,525 |
The monthly view has no receivables timing; it shows cash as it arrives. Cash comes in lumps. Foundation grants land in January, April, July and October, and giving swells in November and December. EBITDA is positive in January, April, July, October and December, and negative in the other seven months, with the deepest gaps in February, May, June and August at roughly $70,000 to $75,000 each. The lowest month-end cash balance of the year, in Oct, is about $390,000.
Payroll and hiring dates
| Role | Annual wage | Starts | Year 1 end | Year 2 end | Year 3 end | Year 4 end | Year 5 end |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Executive Director | $105,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Director of Operations (warehouse and fleet) | $92,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Food sourcing manager | $70,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Volunteer coordinator | $56,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Warehouse lead | $58,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Warehouse associate A | $50,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Warehouse associate B | $50,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Refrigerated truck driver | $54,000 | Month 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bookkeeper | $36,000 | Month 3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Development manager | $84,000 | Month 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Partner agency and compliance coordinator | $60,000 | Month 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Warehouse associate C | $50,000 | Month 13 | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Finance and grants manager | $88,000 | Month 25 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Second senior partner-services coordinator | $62,000 | Month 40 | – | – | – | 1 | 1 |
| Total payroll incl. on-costs | $851,110 | $967,230 | $1,078,990 | $1,138,045 | $1,157,730 |
Eight people start on 1 January: the executive director, the director of operations, the food sourcing manager, the volunteer coordinator, a warehouse lead, two associates and the driver. A part-time bookkeeper joins in month 3, and the development manager and the partner agency coordinator in month 4. A third warehouse associate follows in month 13, a finance and grants manager in month 25 and a second senior coordinator in month 40. That is 10.5 full-time equivalents at the end of Year 1 and 13.5 at the end of Year 4. Volunteers cover the sorting and packing hours that payroll does not.
Surplus and deficit by year
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,650,000 | $2,260,000 | $2,620,000 | $2,865,000 | $3,075,000 |
| Card and platform fees on giving | ($15,750) | ($21,573) | ($25,009) | ($27,348) | ($29,352) |
| Gross profit | $1,634,250 | $2,238,427 | $2,594,991 | $2,837,652 | $3,045,648 |
| Payroll incl. on-costs | ($851,110) | ($967,230) | ($1,078,990) | ($1,138,045) | ($1,157,730) |
| Rent | ($266,000) | ($274,000) | ($282,200) | ($290,700) | ($299,400) |
| Utilities | ($78,000) | ($82,000) | ($86,000) | ($90,000) | ($94,000) |
| Marketing | ($48,000) | ($52,000) | ($55,000) | ($57,000) | ($59,000) |
| Insurance | ($46,000) | ($50,000) | ($53,000) | ($56,000) | ($58,000) |
| Professional fees | ($46,000) | ($64,000) | ($66,000) | ($69,000) | ($72,000) |
| Software subscriptions | ($26,000) | ($28,000) | ($30,000) | ($31,500) | ($33,000) |
| Purchased food (pounds bought at wholesale) | ($265,200) | ($408,000) | ($536,200) | ($621,400) | ($703,100) |
| Shared maintenance fee to the regional network | ($51,200) | ($76,800) | ($103,400) | ($117,000) | ($135,400) |
| Truck fuel, tires, maintenance and registration | ($28,000) | ($36,000) | ($41,000) | ($45,000) | ($49,000) |
| Pest control, sanitation, pallets, packaging and cold-chain monitors | ($26,000) | ($34,000) | ($40,000) | ($44,000) | ($47,000) |
| Volunteer program: background checks, training, gloves and supplies | ($14,000) | ($16,000) | ($17,500) | ($18,500) | ($19,500) |
| Phones, internet, printing and sundry | ($14,000) | ($15,000) | ($16,000) | ($16,500) | ($17,000) |
| Forklift battery, racking and cooler compressor replacement | $0 | ($14,000) | ($18,000) | ($24,000) | ($28,000) |
| Allowance for unreimbursed contract costs | ($16,000) | ($20,000) | ($22,000) | ($24,000) | ($25,000) |
| Annual pay raises (3% a year) | $0 | ($29,017) | ($65,710) | ($105,527) | ($145,305) |
| EBITDA | ($141,260) | $72,380 | $83,991 | $89,480 | $103,213 |
| Depreciation | ($53,000) | ($53,000) | ($53,000) | ($53,000) | ($53,000) |
| Interest | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Income tax | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($194,260) | $19,380 | $30,991 | $36,480 | $50,213 |
| Start-up costs expensed at opening (legal, licensing, launch appeal) | ($42,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($236,260) | $19,380 | $30,991 | $36,480 | $50,213 |
Year 1 ends $194,260 short before start-up costs and $236,260 short after them. Depreciation of $53,000 is part of that and does not use cash. Year 2 is the first year with a surplus, $19,380, and the surplus runs between 1.2% and 1.6% of revenue in Years 3 to 5. Those margins are thin on purpose. Payroll is 52% of Year 1 revenue and settles at 42% by Year 5, and purchased food and the network fee together grow from $316,400 to $838,500 as pounds and prices rise.
Cash through the year
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash from operations | ($318,229) | $22,483 | $54,543 | $69,439 | $86,035 |
| Equipment and fit-out | ($440,000) | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Funding received | $1,242,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Loan principal repaid | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Owner distributions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net change in cash | $483,771 | $22,483 | $54,543 | $69,439 | $86,035 |
| Closing cash | $483,771 | $506,253 | $560,796 | $630,236 | $716,271 |
Closing cash stays above $500,000 at every year end. By the end of Year 3 the balance equals about 81 days of cash costs, and by the end of Year 5 about 88 days. Depreciation of $53,000 a year does not set cash aside for replacements. The truck ($118,000, seven-year life) and the cold rooms ($132,000, ten-year life) would each need a new capital appeal, since surpluses of 1% to 2% of revenue cannot fund them. The model has no owner distributions, so every surplus dollar adds to net assets.
Net assets and the balance sheet
| At year end | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash | $483,771 | $506,253 | $560,796 | $630,236 | $716,271 |
| Accounts receivable | $135,616 | $185,753 | $215,342 | $235,479 | $252,740 |
| Equipment and fit-out (net) | $387,000 | $334,000 | $281,000 | $228,000 | $175,000 |
| Total assets | $1,006,387 | $1,026,007 | $1,057,139 | $1,093,715 | $1,144,010 |
| Accounts payable | $647 | $887 | $1,028 | $1,124 | $1,206 |
| Borrowings | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Paid-in capital | $1,242,000 | $1,242,000 | $1,242,000 | $1,242,000 | $1,242,000 |
| Retained earnings | ($236,260) | ($216,880) | ($185,889) | ($149,409) | ($99,196) |
| Total liabilities and equity | $1,006,387 | $1,026,007 | $1,057,139 | $1,093,715 | $1,144,010 |
Operating margin and break-even
| Measure | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EBITDA margin | -8.6% | 3.2% | 3.2% | 3.1% | 3.4% |
| Net margin (before start-up costs) | -11.8% | 0.9% | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.6% |
| Payroll incl. pay raises as share of revenue | 52% | 44% | 44% | 43% | 42% |
| Revenue per full-time equivalent at year end | $157,143 | $196,522 | $209,600 | $212,222 | $227,778 |
| Average monthly revenue | $137,500 | $188,333 | $218,333 | $238,750 | $256,250 |
| Monthly revenue needed to cover operating costs | $149,385 | $182,244 | $211,267 | $231,221 | $247,566 |
| Debt service cover (EBITDA / interest + principal) | – | – | – | – | – |
Year 1 averages $137,500 of revenue a month against the $149,385 needed to cover operating costs, which is why the year loses money. Years 2 to 5 clear the line by $6,100 to $8,700 a month, a margin of safety of about 3%. No debt means no coverage ratio. The funding mix matters more than the margin: losing a single $25,000 grant would erase the Year 2 surplus.
Funding 20% short in every stream
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Year 5 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1,320,000 | $1,808,000 | $2,096,000 | $2,292,000 | $2,460,000 |
| Net income before start-up costs | ($355,090) | ($150,802) | ($107,004) | ($93,680) | ($48,435) |
| Net income after start-up costs | ($397,090) | ($150,802) | ($107,004) | ($93,680) | ($48,435) |
| Closing cash | $349,935 | $212,214 | $134,652 | $77,939 | $68,762 |
This case cuts every funding stream by 20% in every year. The board responds in four steps: bought food is cut by 60%, which lowers pounds distributed by about a tenth, to 1,796,000 in Year 1 and 4,220,600 in Year 5; the bookkeeper starts two months later; every hire from month 13 starts six months later; and the second senior coordinator is dropped. Cash cost per pound in this case is about $0.90 in Year 1 and $0.58 in Year 5. Rent, fundraising spend and the executive director's pay are left alone. Fundraising is the spending that restores gifts, so cutting it while giving falls would deepen the shortfall, and the food and hiring cuts come first. The organization loses money in every year, from $355,090 before start-up costs in Year 1 down to $48,435 in Year 5, and never returns to surplus on this path. Closing cash stays positive in every year, at no less than $68,762, only because of the $760,000 reserve. Equity ends Year 1 at $844,910. The reserve buys time rather than a solution, and the board would need new money or deeper cuts to pounds before the cash ran out.
Sources
- USDA Economic Research Service, Household Food Security in the United States in 2024, ERR-358, released 30 December 2025.
- Washington State Department of Agriculture, Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
- Washington State Department of Agriculture, Food Storage Warehouse License (chapter 69.10 RCW and chapter 16-145 WAC).
- Washington Secretary of State, Charities Program.
- Financial Accounting Standards Board, Accounting Standards Update 2020-07, presentation and disclosures for contributed nonfinancial assets.
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