Why should you trust the information on this web page?

Donating Things Instead of Cash or Time

credits and disclaimer and Why should you trust the information on this web page?

It's a wonderful thing to donate cash or to donate time (volunteer) for nonprofit organizations, NGOs, charities, etc. And it can be a wonderful thing to donate things - food, furniture, clothes - to help others.

But donating things is not always a good idea. In fact, many organizations actually do NOT want donations of things.

The problems with in-kind donations - with the donation of things - is well documented:

People often start asking for people to donate things for a group they think needs them, but without thinking through how it will really work, as in how the items will be screened, will be stored, will be transported, and will be appropriately and equitably distributed in a timely manner.
Trying to store mounds of items often leads to the items become worthless, because of contaminants, from water and mold and dust to rodents and their droppings.
Donated items can hurt local businesses run by people for whom income is critical to the survival of their families.
Many people donate things that are not appropriate: dirty and torn clothes, broken furniture, broken equipment, expired food, etc.

NOT saying that in-kind donations to charities are always wrong. In-kind donations are NOT at all always wrong. Donating to Goodwill means you help raise funds for their job training programs. Donating to Habitat for Humanity ReStores means you help fund home building, homeowner education for under-served populations, neighborhood clean ups and more.

And, yes, there are some nonprofits that can make use of in-kind donations not to sell, but to donate to others in need. One of my favorite is Community Warehouse in Oregon, which does a masterful job of both managing donations (and they are very picky) and partnering with nonprofits to get clients (you can't just walk in without a referral) - reduces waste, helps keep warehouse inventory manageable and better ensures equity. This nonprofits Facebook pageis one of my favorites as an example of excellent community outreach and awareness-building. Many refugee agencies right in your own community are probably looking for furniture donations, but they are often looking for specific items, ones they can pick up and immediately deliver to a family that is moving into an apartment - they usually have zero storage space for such items.

So, yes, hurrah, in-kind donations.

But to those who say that in-kind donations are better than cash donations for nonprofits and that this is a "trend" that needs to be expanded, here are some articles that say otherwise (and I know so many nonprofit folks are nodding in agreement - in-kind donations don't pay staff, don't pay utility bills, don't pay for the copier rental, and on and on).

Your clothing donations are piling up in landfills and are being sold overseas. From Emory Wheel.
Why more clothes donated to charity are going in the garbage. From the CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada's public broadcaster.
What Should I Donate During a Disaster? The Honest Answer (and Why Cash Is Almost Always the Best Answer When Donating to Disaster Relief). From good360.org.
Donation Dumping: The Hidden Harm to Nonprofits and the Environment. From CareIt.
The Second Disaster: Why Goodwill Goes Bad in a Disaster Zone. From Team Rubicon USA.
When In-Kind Donations Are Not Kind. From The Center for Disaster Philanthropy.
Why Cash Donations Help Food Banks More. From Feeding America.
Why Cash Donations are So Valuable to Food Banks. Los Angeles Regional Food Bank.

How to Donate Things Responsibly

Before you launch a donation drive, or load up your vehicle with things to donate, you need to do your homework, looking at the web sites of nonprofits you think want donations and, if you can't find guidelines, calling those organizations to get details:

Many organizations have restrictions on what they accept. For instance, toy-distribution charities for poor children usually require that toys be new and in their original store wrapping. This is to ensure that the items are in perfect working condition and will make children feel just like any child, not someone worthy of only the castoff of others. Same for coat drives, shoe drives, pajama drives, etc. Please respect these restrictions.
Most nonprofits cannot pick your items up. Most nonprofits lack the equipment, the staff, the cars or trucks and the money for gas or postage to transport your items.
There are very few organizations who ship clothes, food, shoes, blankets or school supplies overseas or even across the nation anymore, even if those items are new. This is for three reasons:
1. It's much more expensive to ship those items overseas than it is to simply buy them in the country itself, or in a country right next door.
2. The donation of these free items can take away desperately-needed local jobs. For instance, a lot of Haitian rice farmers had no market for their products because of all the donated rice to the country brought in from outside the country after the Earthquake, which made even more people impoverished.
3. A lot of people don't want used clothes. It's a matter of dignity: they would much rather buy cheap, NEW clothes.

If you are going to donate anything, it should be clean and ready-to-use. It should not be torn, stained or broken. It should not be missing any parts. If it's electronics, you should plug it in first and make sure it works. If it's been in a storage box for a while, you need to take it out of that box and make sure it hasn't been spoiled by water, mold, moths or vermin.

If it's torn, broken, stained, needs to be repaired, etc., find a place to recycle it or throw it away responsibly - do NOT try to donate it unless you have found a place that has seen it in person or a picture of it and has said, "Oh, yes, we want that."

Whatever you donate should be something an organization - not a person at work or at your community of faith, but an organization - has said, in writing, on their web site, or in a news story that you saw yourself, that they need. And you should follow their directions exactly on how to donate: respect their hours of business, don't leave items stacked outside a gate after hours, etc.

Where to Donate Things

One of the best places to donate new or clean used clothes, clean used toys, clean dishes and cookware, electronics (VCRs, TVs, stereos, CD players, computers) and clean used furniture is Goodwill, which uses its store both to train people who are entering or re-entering the workforce and to raise money for its programs. By giving to Goodwill, you are helping to train people who want to work but need training and experience in order to get a job, you are helping the organization raise money for their programs, and you are better ensuring your items will get to someone who really wants them. Note the emphasis on clean items - please do NOT donate dirty, soiled or worn clothes, nor broken electronics, nor broken anything, to Goodwill.

Another great place to donate furniture and housewares is a Habitat for Humanity ReStore. These items are sold to fund the work of Habitat for Humanity in your area, to help families become homeowners and to help vulnerable homeowners, such as people with disabilities, with repairs that can help them stay in their homes. Please do not donate anything dirty, soiled, broken or missing parts to a ReStore. Please donate things that are showroom ready.

Habitat also takes vehicle donations: cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and more (and the vehicle does NOT have to be running - as long as you have the title, they will probably take it).

Used, clean, completely-stain-free business clothes for women would be welcomed at a woman's career closet, if there is such in your area. Call your local YWCA, United Way and Goodwill to find a career closet for women in in your area (again, note that your area may not have such).

For really special items, such as items that are vintage, or that represent a particular era, contact your local community theater, the theater department at the nearest college or university, or even your local historical society.

For musical instruments, contact the music faculty at the local high school and local colleges and universities. Note that pianos are EXTREMELY hard to donate. It is easy to find someone getting rid of a piano in great condition - it's much harder to find someone willing to pay to have it delivered to someone who wants it.

Any search engine can help you find nonprofits in your area where you can donate usable electronics (cell phones, MP3 players, TVs), clean, ready-to-use furniture, clean, ready-to-wear clothes, books, unopened food containers, including pet food, fresh produce, office supplies and more. Every community is different in terms of what nonprofits it has that can accept such items.

There may be a bicycle recycling intiative in your area. Find out by typing in the name of your city and state, and the phrase bicycle donation, then again with the phrase bicycle recycle into a search engine.

Your unused hotel toiletries (shampoo, soap, etc., still in their original packages and NEVER used) might be welcomed at your local domestic violence shelter - call and ask if they would like these items. A local homeless shelter might like them as well. Note again: these should be unused.

You can donate a used brace, crutches or a prosthetic to PIPO Missions, which refurbishes donated items and then custom-fits and delivers them to people in need in rural Mexico.

Donate used eye glasses to Lions Club International. Volunteers at Lions Eyeglass Recycling Centers (LERCs) clean, sort by prescription strength and package the glasses. Most of the recycled glasses are distributed to people in need in developing countries where they will have the greatest impact.

Clean, usable, not-broken camping equipment (tents, sleeping bad, cooking equipment, lanterns), can go to your local Goodwill, your local Habitat ReStore, or any charity thrift shop that sells stuff. There's also Adventure 16's Donate-A-Pack Foundation, which exists to benefit at-risk, low income, or disabled youth in Southern California by enabling them to partake in an outdoor wilderness experience. The foundation accepts all types of outdoor gear in usable condition, in addition to backpacks. The most needed items are sleeping bags, pads, tents and backpacks, but we also accept cook sets, stoves, water filters, footwear, apparel and more. Unless an item is badly damaged or falling apart, you can bring the item to one of the Adventure 16 stores in Southern California (they also accept shipped items - see the web site for details.

You can donate bone marrow as part of the Be the Match national registry.

You can donate blood to your local American Red Cross blood bank. Note that donate means you are NOT paid.

You can designate now that your organs and tissue be donated after your death to people in need. OrganDonor.gov has complete information.

You can designate now that your entire body be donated after your death to people in need. MedCure is a nonprofit that accepts these donations.

I used to list nonprofits that said they would ship items overseas to military service members and their families, or to people in need in other countries, as well as organizations that accepted homemade blankets and other home-made sewn or knitted items, but I stopped because so many of these nonprofits don't exist anymore. These organizations seem to come and go so quickly, I can't keep up. So, again, use a search engine to find such organizations.

Ways to Donate In-Kind You May Not Have Thought Of.

If you have secure, weather-proof storage space, contact your local Girl Scouts of the USA council office and let them know you would be willing to allow the Girl Scout troops in your area use the space to store their camping supplies, dutch ovens, camping ovens, arts and crafts, posters, tables and other items. You can sign prepare and sign paperwork to say that you will not be held responsible for the items, that you want only one or two people to have access to the storage (as opposed to various people), that you have to be called each time someone wants access to the space, and that the offer is good for only one year, with renewal to be discussed within 60 days of the end of your agreement.

If you have a meeting room at your company or organization, you could allow a nonprofit in your area to book the room once a month for their board meetings or member meetings, depending on how many people the room can fit. For instance, Girl Scouts has troop leader meetings once-a-month for adult volunteers. Lots of nonprofits need a space to have a board meeting or a volunteer training once-a-month.

You can advocate for any of the aforementioned organizations, or any organization you want to support, using your own online networks. Read more on how you can advocate for an issue important to you.

And, of course, you can VOLUNTEER. Your time, energy and expertise are SO NEEDED. Volunteering will increase your connection to a cause and those working to promote that cause, as well as help build your understanding of issues related to that cause.

More Resources.

Also see this SWEDOW chart (download it for the full size):

Print, laminate, and avoid the wrath of Bill Easterly.

Note: The wonderful USAID, which the current President got rid of out of spite, had many great programs, among them the Center for International Disaster Information (CIDI), which guided and informed the public, diaspora and community groups, embassies, nonprofits, corporations, and government officials about the most effective ways to support international disaster relief. The site is still archived at archive.org, and can be found by searching for www.cidi.org under "web sites." Among its excellent resources was "Fifty Five Ways to Repurpose a Material Donation. It noted, "When disaster strikes overseas, the generosity of the American people can be inspiring. Individually and in communities, people are quick to organize to help those in need. But many times, our good intentions do not have the desired impacts. CIDI was formed to educate American about the smartest and most appropriate ways to help international disaster victims. When they give responsibly, Americans provide support that is most beneficial to disaster relief and recovery efforts overseas." It is a tragedy - and should be a crime - that the CIDI was eliminated by the current Presidential administration, but tearing down the historic East Wing to replace it with an unnecessary, bloated vanity project is allowed.

Also see

How you can advocate for an issue important to you

How to Make a Difference Internationally/Globally/in Another Country Without Going Abroad

Detailed information on Finding Community Service and Volunteering for Teens.

How to Find Volunteering Opportunities, a resource for adults who want to volunteer

Advice for volunteering as a group / volunteering in a group

Volunteering with Seniors

Volunteering In Pursuit of a Medical, Veterinary or Social Work degree / career

Advice for family volunteering - volunteering by families with children and, related, advice for teaching children compassion & understanding instead of pity with regard to poverty.

Advice for Finding Volunteer Activities During the Holidays

Online Volunteering (Virtual Volunteering)

Fund Raising For a Cause or Organization

Crowdfunding for a Personal Cause: A Sick Family Member, Someone in Dire Financial Crisis, Etc.

Using Your Business Skills for Good - Volunteering Your Business Management Skills, to help people starting or running small businesses / micro enterprises, to help people building businesses in high-poverty areas, and to help people entering or re-entering the work force.

Creating or Holding a Successful Community Event or Fund Raising Event.

Group Volunteering for Atheist and Secular Volunteers

If you are seeking volunteering in order to fulfill a community service obligation from a court or school obligation, see this resource.

How to complain about your volunteering experience.

Careers Working With Animals (for the benefit of animals)

Volunteering To Help After Major Disasters.

Ideas for Funding Your Volunteering Abroad Trip.

How to Get a Job with the United Nations or Other International Humanitarian or Development Organization

Ideas for Leadership Volunteering Activities
These are more than just do-it-yourself volunteering - these are ideas to create or lead a sustainable, lasting benefit to a community, recruiting others to help and to have a leadership role as a volunteer. These can also be activities for the Girl Scouts Gold Award, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award (U.K.), a mitzvah project, or even scholarship consideration.

Ideas for Creating Your Own Volunteering Activity.

Helping People Address Their Problems with Plastic
How to mobilize a community to clean up plastic bottles, plastic bags and other plastic waste from their environment, and how to reduce their use of such items in the future

A Teenager's Guide to Emancipation

Discuss this web page, or comment on it, here.

Quick Links

my home page

my consulting services & my workshops & presentations

my credentials & expertise

Affirmation that this web site is created & managed by a human.

My book: The Last Virtual Volunteering Guidebook

Free Resources: Community Outreach, With & Without Tech

Free Resources: Technology Tips for Non-Techies

Free Resources: Nonprofit, NGO & other mission-based management resources

Free Resources: Web Development, Maintenance, Marketing for non-Web designers

Free Resources: Corporate philanthropy / social responsibility programs

Free Resources: For people & groups that want to volunteer

linking to or from my web site

The Coyote Helps Foundation

me on social media (follow me, like me, put me in a circle, subscribe to my newsletter)

how to support my work

Disclaimer: No guarantee of accuracy or suitability is made by the poster/distributor of the materials on this web site.
The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice.
I am not a lawyer. I am not a legal professional. Do any inforamation on this site as legal counsel.
I am not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may result from the use of this website or reliance on its content.
Your use of this website and its information is at your own discretion and risk.
This material is provided as is, with no expressed or implied warranty or liability.

See my web site's privacy policy.

Permission is granted to copy, present and/or distribute a limited amount of material from my web site without charge if the information is kept intact and without alteration, and is credited to:

Jayne Cravens
& Coyote Communications, www.coyotebroad.com

Otherwise, please contact me for permission to reprint, present or distribute these materials (for instance, in a class or book or online event for which you intend to charge).