How Boardable Simplified Board Management & Reduced Meetings for Second Harvest Food Bank

The Team at Boardable

Case Studies

6 minutes

Nonprofit Type

Food Bank

Founded

1982

Location

Southern Louisiana

Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana is dedicated to ending hunger and building food security across Southern Louisiana. By distributing food and resources, they support individuals and families in need, fostering stronger, healthier communities. Their mission is to provide relief while raising awareness to create lasting change in the fight against hunger.

Key Highlights

Improved Onboarding: Boardable enabled quick onboarding of new board members by allowing tracking of interests and demographics, which helped align members to the right roles and committees.
Ease of Use & Time Savings: Admins created board packets with ease, eliminating tedious page formatting and saving hours that could be dedicated to strategic work.
Increased Attendance & Quorum: Virtual meetings integrated with Boardable ensured consistent quorum, where previously Second Harvest had struggled.
Reduced Meeting Frequency: Boardable’s effective engagement features allowed Second Harvest to reduce the number of board meetings needed each year, freeing up time for strategic planning.

History

Since its founding in 1982, Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana has been committed to ending hunger and building food security in its community. Effective board management has always been crucial to this mission. However, as the organization grew, so did the complexity of coordinating board activities. As Second Harvest expanded, coordinating board activities became more complex, demanding a solution to streamline operations and reduce frequent, time-consuming meetings.

Challenge

Before adopting Boardable, Second Harvest faced several significant challenges that hindered efficient board management. Communication among board members was highly fragmented, with discussions and decisions scattered across emails, phone calls, and in-person meetings. This disjointed approach made it difficult to track conversations and ensure that everyone stayed aligned.

Fragmented communication led to misalignment and wasted time. Board members often missed key updates, which created bottlenecks in decision-making and slowed progress. Document management was equally frustrating, as important files were often buried in email threads or scattered across various folders. This led to wasted time and frustration for both staff and board members, who struggled to locate essential information.

Engaging board members effectively was another significant challenge. Scheduling meetings and maintaining quorum were particularly difficult, especially in a hybrid meeting environment where members attended both in-person and virtually. The traditional methods in place weren’t sufficient to keep members engaged between meetings, which led to difficulty sustaining momentum.

Additionally, administrative tasks such as preparing board packets, managing board terms, and manually tracking attendance were extremely time-consuming. These manual processes took time away from more strategic initiatives and highlighted the need for a comprehensive solution that could streamline communication, improve document management, and reduce the frequency of meetings while maintaining high engagement and decision-making efficiency.

Solution

Boardable delivered transformative results for Second Harvest’s board management. By centralizing all communication and documents, Boardable eliminated time wasted searching through scattered emails and folders. This streamlined process gave staff and board members immediate access to critical updates, significantly reducing frustration and enhancing efficiency. As Jonique J., Chief of Staff, remarked, “Yes, I love saying — it’s already in Boardable!”

Boardable also revolutionized the onboarding process. Tracking members’ interests and demographics allowed Second Harvest to align board members with the right committees from day one, driving immediate engagement and fostering stronger board cohesion and effectiveness.

For administrative tasks, Boardable was a game-changer, it’s user-friendly interface simplified the creation and updating of board packets, eliminating tedious formatting and freeing up valuable time for more strategic work. Real-time updates allowed for seamless information sharing with committees. “One thing that I absolutely love is the way I can communicate so easily with my team,” added Jonique.

Engagement and meeting participation also soared. The discussion feature kept communication flowing between meetings, while electronic voting guaranteed transparency and accuracy in decision-making. Boardable’s Zoom integration boosted virtual attendance, ensuring meetings consistently met quorum. Thanks to these enhancements, Second Harvest was able to reduce the number of meetings needed each year, without sacrificing productivity or engagement.

Today’s Operations

With Boardable, board operations at Second Harvest have seen significant improvements. New member onboarding is more efficient, meetings are more productive, and real-time updates ensure that all teams are aligned. The platform’s discussion and electronic voting features improved engagement, while virtual meetings now consistently meet quorum. Most impressively, Boardable has reduced the number of meetings required each year, freeing time for more strategic activities.

Conclusion

With Boardable, Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana is now better equipped to focus on its mission of feeding those in their community and building food security. By reducing meeting frequency and improving operational efficiency, Boardable will continue to play a critical role in driving their mission forward.