If your food bank still runs on Excel, the safest way to move is in three stages: clean the data you have, set up the new system around how you actually work, then switch over between sessions while keeping the old spreadsheet read-only for reference. Most of the effort is in the clean-up, and that's worth doing whichever system you choose.

Why do food banks end up running on Excel?

Because it works — at first. A spreadsheet is free, everyone knows how to use it, and you can start the same afternoon. Plenty of food banks began as a small group with a laptop and a shared file, and the file simply grew with them.

The trouble is that a spreadsheet grows by adding tabs and copies, not by joining things up. Referrals, households, stock, parcels, volunteers and donors each end up in their own sheet, and someone has to keep them in step by hand. We've compared the two side by side in FoodBank360 vs spreadsheets. This guide is about the next step: how to move without disrupting the people you serve.

When is it time to move a food bank off Excel?

Usually when the spreadsheet needs a particular person to hold it together. Common signs:

•         Only one or two people really understand how the workbook works.

•         You have several files for referrals, stock and donors, and they regularly disagree.

•         The same household appears under two spellings.

•         Preparing a trustee or funder report takes more than an afternoon.

•         Personal data is emailed or messaged around because the file can't be shared safely.

•         You've added a second site, or a delivery service, and the workbook can't keep up.

What goes wrong in a badly planned switch?

Moving systems is where some food banks lose data or goodwill. The common mistakes:

•         Importing the mess. Duplicate households and half-finished records go straight into the new system, and its duplicate checks flag hundreds of them on day one.

•         Switching mid-week. Referral partners are still emailing the old address while volunteers are learning the new system on a busy session day.

•         Forgetting the referrers. Agencies aren't told how to refer in the new way, so referrals keep arriving by email.

•         Running two systems indefinitely. "Just in case" turns into months of double entry.

•         No one owns it. Without a named lead, the switch drifts.

The plan below avoids all five.

How should you clean food bank data before moving it?

Work through this checklist on a copy of your spreadsheet, not the live file:

•         ☐ Merge duplicate households. Sort by surname and postcode, not first name, and combine records that are the same family.

•         ☐ Standardise names and addresses. Consistent capitals, full postcodes, one format for phone numbers.

•         ☐ Split combined cells. "2A 3C" becomes separate adults and children columns; "Veg, no nuts" becomes a dietary needs column.

•         ☐ Agree one item list for stock. "Beans", "baked beans" and "Heinz beans" become one item, counted by unit or by weight.

•         ☐ List your referral agencies, with a named contact and email for each. Remove any that haven't referred in a year.

•         ☐ List your donors, marking organisations (churches, schools, supermarkets) separately from individuals, and noting Gift Aid declarations.

•         ☐ List your volunteers and their roles, with any background-check dates.

•         ☐ Decide what not to bring. Households you haven't supported in years, and data you no longer need, may be better archived or deleted. UK GDPR expects you to keep personal data only as long as you need it (ICO). Gift Aid declarations are the exception: HMRC requires you to keep them for six years after the last donation you claimed on (GOV.UK).

•         ☐ Write down your parcel lists, with exact quantities, ready to become templates.

It's also a good moment to notice what your spreadsheet never captured — dates on stock, whether donors were thanked, why a referral was declined — and decide whether to start recording it.

What does a four-week switchover look like?

This plan fits a small or medium food bank with one or two sessions a week. Stretch it if you have several sites.

Week

What happens

Who

1. Prepare

Name a lead. Clean the data using the checklist above. Write down your parcel lists and roles.

Lead + one helper

2. Set up

Set up the new system: sites, parcel templates, staff roles, donor list. Import households and referral partners. Check a sample of imported records against the spreadsheet.

Lead, with the supplier's help

3. Train and tell

Short training for coordinators and regular volunteers. Write to every referral agency with the new way to refer and the date it starts.

Lead + coordinators

4. Switch

Pick a day between sessions. From that day, everything new goes into the new system only. Make the old spreadsheet read-only and keep it for reference.

Everyone

After the switch: for the first two or three sessions, have the lead on hand to answer questions. After a month, archive the old spreadsheet somewhere secure, and delete it once you're sure you no longer need it.

What should you ask a software supplier about migration?

Question to ask

Why it matters

Can you import households, partners and donors in bulk?

Typing hundreds of records by hand is where errors creep in

Will someone help map our columns to your fields?

Every spreadsheet is laid out differently

Does the system check for duplicates after import?

Catches anything the clean-up missed

Can we export our data at any time?

You should never be locked in

What does setup cost, and what's included?

Avoids surprises after you've committed

Is training and support included, and when is support available?

The first few sessions are when you'll need it

Is there a per-user charge?

Per-user pricing makes it expensive to give every volunteer a login

How does FoodBank360 help food banks move off Excel?

•         A demo built around your process. Bring your spreadsheet to a free demo, and we'll show you how your referrals, parcels and stock would look in FoodBank360.

•         Bulk import with team-assisted mapping. We help you import existing records from spreadsheets or another system, and map your columns to the right fields.

•         Duplicate detection from day one. Imported and new households are checked for likely duplicates.

•         Your parcel lists become templates. Adult, child, vegetarian, kettle and additional parcels, with exact quantities, linked to your stock.

•         Unlimited users. Every coordinator, volunteer and referral partner can have a login at no extra cost.

•         Export any time. Reports and data can be exported whenever you need them.

•         Support from a UK team. Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, on 0115 786 0269 or at connect@foodbank360.com.

Every plan has a one-off £100 setup fee, which covers data import, setting up your parcel templates, and training. Plans start at £34.99 a month plus VAT for referrals; the Full plan, with stock, parcels and donations, is £114.99 a month plus VAT (20% less if paid yearly). See pricing →

Moving off Excel: FAQs

How long does it take to move a food bank off Excel? For a single-site food bank, around four weeks is realistic, most of it spent cleaning data and telling referral partners. Larger networks should allow longer.

Should we run the spreadsheet and the new system side by side? Only briefly, and only for reference. Pick a switch date and enter new records in one place from that day. Running both for long means double entry and two versions of the truth.

What if our data is too messy to import? Clean what matters most — current households, active referral partners, regular donors — and leave old, inactive records in an archived copy of the spreadsheet.

Do we have to stop using Excel completely? No. You can still export reports into a spreadsheet to analyse them. What changes is that the spreadsheet is no longer where your records live.

Will our referral partners need training? A short email or a two-page guide is usually enough: how to register, what to include in a referral, and how to check its status.

Bring your spreadsheet to a demo

Book a free demo and bring your current workbook. We'll show you how it maps into FoodBank360 and what the switch would involve for your food bank.

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