Customer Stories
Foodbank Australia
Cumbersome PDFs and unsecured email communications are a thing of the past for Australia’s largest food relief organisation.
Customer Stories
Cumbersome PDFs and unsecured email communications are a thing of the past for Australia’s largest food relief organisation.
Industry: Not-for-Profit
Headquarters: North Ryde, Australia
Board Management Goals
Results
Foodbank Australia is the country’s largest food relief organisation, working tirelessly to end hunger across the nation. Its mission is simple: get food to every household that needs it.
In a time when the cost of living is challenging many households to do more with less, Foodbank’s work is more critical than ever. It rescues surplus and ‘out of spec’ food from the food industry, ensuring that perfectly edible groceries don’t go to waste. Instead, this food is redistributed to those struggling to put food on the table.
With a staggering 3.4 million households needing food relief each year, Foodbank Australia plays a vital role in bridging the gap and nourishing communities, including having sourced more than 92 million meals in 2024.
Foodbank’s Chief Operating Officer, Sarah Pennell, who is responsible for board operations, emphasises that good governance, compliance, and transparency are at the heart of everything they do.
Before OnBoard, Pennell says she faced a time-consuming and manual process that relied on emails and PDFs to prepare and distribute board meeting materials. “I would pull the papers together, PDF them into a single document, and then circulate that via e-mail,” Pennell says. Any changes or updates meant starting from scratch and creating an entirely new board pack.
Foodbank and Pennell are not alone in having relied on the cumbersome process board material preparation and distribution. According to the 2024 Boardroom Insights Survey, 62% of boards currently use email and PDFs as their primary method for preparing and sending out board materials. An additional 13% still rely on paper printouts. Only 25% have adopted a digital approach, such as a shared online drive or dedicated board management software (aka board portal).
Recognising the need for a more efficient and secure way to manage board communications, Foodbank Australia selected OnBoard to simplify board meeting operations.
— Sarah Pennell, Chief Operating Officer, Foodbank Australia
When evaluating board management solutions, price was a significant factor for the charity. “Some of the high-end corporate options are very expensive,” Pennell says. Foodbank sought a platform that offered essential functionality at a reasonable price – and OnBoard delivered on that promise.
While Pennell says she’s still exploring OnBoard’s full potential, the platform has already made a positive impact. The immediate benefits noted include:
Like many organisations, Foodbank Australia’s board members possess varying levels of tech skills and experience. Some were already familiar with board management platforms, while others preferred hard copies of board papers.
To encourage adoption of a digital board management solution, Pennell took a practical approach: promising hands-on support and gently phasing out paper copies. The result? A successful transition for all directors.
Pennell says Foodbank Australia is excited about potentially implementing OnBoard’s AI-powered Automated Minutes capabilities, with the goal of minimising the administrative burden of taking accurate meeting minutes. “It would be great not to have to sit and take copious notes and transcribe them myself,” Pennell says.
They’re also expanding their OnBoard license to include the leadership team, integrating board meeting activities with the administrative functions of the leadership team, which will allow them to see what one another is doing, ensuring increased transparency and accountability.
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