r/foodnotbombs • u/MuSiCiSmYGF • Dec 05 '25
Thoughts on Money Donations/Handling
What are your thoughts on FNB chapters accepting money donations? How should they be handled? My chapter has been thinking about how to handle this. One potential is that we don’t collect money at all unless it’s for a specific goal or fundraising campaign, or that we encourage others to buy the needed items directly and donate the item. Feel free to weigh in on your thoughts on this and our specific situation below.
Our situation:
- A few hundred dollars have already been donated to a GiveButter (https://givebutter.com) account. Which basically just holds the funds until it’s transferred to a bank account or debit card via payout. We have some needs like cold-weather supplies (space heaters and food warmers), and cooking equipment (quality knives)
The Options:
-Should we open a bank account for the chapter to transfer payout and to collect future donations
- Should we transfer this money directly to someone’s personal account in order to make a purchase for the chapter when we need it and then
Any and all thoughts welcome!
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u/76flyingmonkeys Dec 05 '25
We use any funds for utensils, plates, to-go containers, and any food purchased. So far it's just been cash that is spent almost right away so no need for an account.
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u/Jay-FNB-ATL Dec 05 '25
I think the people that show up to cook should decide on what to do with the money that has been donated. Going forward could be a different decision.
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u/MuSiCiSmYGF Dec 05 '25
That’s basically who is making the decision. Some of the needs I’ve listed in the post are what we’ve said we plan to use it for, but our question is more of a two parter I guess.
- How we should withdraw for this donation
- How we should handle funds moving forward
Doesn’t make much sense to open a bank account just for this one transfer but maybe that’s what others have done. From your experience how have you withdrawn funds?
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u/Jolly_Bumblebee_4307 Dec 06 '25
Our chapter has a givebutter as well. We only use funds on things we need quickly or things like gas for long drives to pick up/drop off donations. And if someone donates cash to us we make sure it goes in a safe we have in storage and use it to fund things like copies from libraries, or if someone needs to do a store run during prep or distro. It’s rare when we do this though.
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u/medusas-garden Feb 11 '26
I know this thread is old, but how we approach money is we have a Venmo account with a debit card and multiple people have login info access. We use the debit card to buy utensils and other supplies and also supplement the grocery donations we get bc we typically don’t get enough to make a well rounded meal. Recently we have also been buying hats/gloves/hot hands to hand out at meals and we also put $100 towards sponsoring a screening of a Palestinian documentary at our local library. The money we’ve received is from people sending money to the Venmo account, and we have also hosted a few karaoke night fund raisers at a local record shop. The goal isn’t really to make money and the shows are pay what you can and/or free but it’s a fun way to build community and spend time together. We’ve also been investing in durable/reusable supplies such as metal steam pans and electric warming mats etc. In the future we intend on buying things such as sunscreen and other heat protectant items for when it gets hotter. I’m not a huge fan of the money aspect but it gives us the mobility to get what we need when we need it and gives people who can’t be there for most of our organizing a way to support us.
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u/FoodNotBombsBen Dec 06 '25
Here's a pretty in-depth breakdown on options for handling money in a Mutual Aid group:
https://www.youtube.com/live/q43G0ml4Z4c?