Invite a family to your table: WFP’s ShareTheMeal app links monthly givers to the families they support | WPN World People News

Starting on International Women’s Day, ShareTheMeal, the app from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), will enable monthly givers to follow their donation and see exactly how it is helping families in need. Monthly givers will automatically join The Table – a new feature within the app – which connects members with the family they are supporting through personalised updates and exclusive stories. Using data from WFP’s beneficiary data management platform, SCOPE, monthly givers will learn when a family has purchased food thanks to their donation.

ShareTheMeal will enable monthly givers to follow their donation and see how it is helping families in need through The Table, a new feature within the app, which connects members with the family they are supporting.

The Table brings together vested givers and empowered recipients, who will be connected virtually through this new feature of ShareTheMeal. Each month, members of The Table will be connected to a different family to learn more about how their support is helping them. For example, givers will receive personalised in-app content on the impact of their donation, such as videos and stories. By fundraising for some of WFP’s most critical operations including Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Bangladesh, users will be directly helping the most vulnerable families.

Over the past decade, WFP has increased the use of cash-based transfers alongside food deliveries to provide assistance to people in need. In 2017, WFP provided US$ 1.3 billion in cash transfers. Cash transfers allow WFP to reduce delivery costs, which means that for every dollar saved, is one additional dollar that can be spent helping the people it serves. Through The Table, monthly donors directly support families with cash assistance, so that they can purchase the food that best suits their family’s needs.

“The digital revolution is enabling WFP to create online platforms, such as SCOPE, which help us to enhance the use of digital identities for people in need, so that we can know and serve them better. Digital identities allow WFP to rapidly and effectively provide food and cash assistance, especially in emergency situations,” says Kenn Crossley, Global Coordinator of Cash Transfers at WFP. “With the launch of The Table, we are leveraging this data to show donors their tangible impact.”

Through The Table, WFP is able to respond to the desire of donors, especially millennials, to give to transparent and efficient charities. It is clear that this tech-savvy generation wants to follow their impact and be connected to those they are helping. Addressing this mindset, ShareTheMeal will provide personalized stories and video to donors, paving the way for long-term engagement in philanthropy and social good.

“We believe this generation is not only eager to change the world, but feels strongly about transparency and proven impact. By providing real-life data on the impact of a shared meal through The Table, we will demonstrate how – with a tap on the app – this generation can lead the way to a zero hunger future,” says Massimiliano Costa, Head of ShareTheMeal.

Source:World Food Programme