How To Donate Goods
The Pros and Cons of Donating Goods Instead of Cash
Donations come in many forms. You can donate money, goods, time and talent, blood, rewards points, stocks, other assets, and much more.
Today, we are talking about how to donate goods (think: food, clothing, supplies). It makes us feel good to believe we are helping people in need by donating tangible goods, whether new or used. However, many donated items can become a burden rather than a benefit.
Here’s how to increase your impact.
When donating used items
The old adage that one person’s junk is another person’s treasure is not always true. Nobody needs your junk.
Nonprofits often get stuck with unusable donated clothes, furniture, equipment, and household items that must then be disposed of at the expense of the nonprofit.
Before donating used items, ask yourself if this is something you would directly gift to someone if you could see them face-to-face. Nobody wants clothes or furniture with stains, holes, and tears. Nonprofits and low-income people don’t need obsolete computers or appliances on the fritz. Instead, find a way to recycle these items.
Donate high-quality items and follow the guidelines
If you have high-quality used items to donate:
Look for organizations with established donation programs or a call for specific items.
Do your research and make sure you follow the guidelines provided. Established programs will have policies that list exactly what you can and cannot donate.
By donating high-quality used goods to an existing program, you are more likely to reduce the burden to the organization and ensure that the item is redistributed to individuals and communities in need.
Considerations when donating to thrift shops
Second-hand shops, vintage stores, and thrift shops have many ethical, environmental, and economic benefits. In recent years, thrifting has gained in popularity and become trendy among more wealthy consumers who reject fast fashion and want to increase their sustainable consumption patterns. This can have unintended consequences for the low-income consumers that thrift stores were meant to serve. For example, some thrift stores have moved to higher-income neighborhoods that are less accessible. And, an increase in consumer interest means that high-quality items go more quickly and may not reach the people who cannot otherwise afford them. When donating to thrift shops, it’s important to consider the clientele to help ensure that your donation reaches an individual in need.
When donating new items
It’s often much more cost-effective and empowering to donate cash than new items.
Nonprofits typically can purchase items they need in bulk, at a discount, and with less sales tax. For the amount you spend on a can of soup to donate to a food bank, that food bank could use those same funds to buy three cans of soup.
Promote dignity, not charity
If you are responding to a specific call for items (think: a back-to-school drive or Toys for Tots), look for programs that distribute new items in a way that promotes dignity and empowerment, not charity.
It can be humiliating to admit that you aren’t able to provide for yourself or your family and accept handouts from strangers. On top of that, it is frustrating to receive donations that aren’t an exact match to what you need. Organizations that use a people-centered approach focused on the needs of the individuals or communities they serve rather than the donor are likely to be more successful. Look for programs that:
Collect specific wish-list items from intended recipients.
Set up simulated stores where individuals can browse the inventory and make their own decisions about what to “purchase.”
Provide gift cards instead. While giving gift cards to friends and family may seem impersonal, it is very empowering to individuals in need to be able to go into a store on their own and pick out precisely what they want.
Considerations when donating goods directly to nonprofits
You can also donate items (new or used) to the nonprofit, itself, versus items that the nonprofit passes on to communities and individuals in need. The same rules apply. Make sure that it is something that the nonprofit needs and that it is of high quality. If not, donate cash instead. Nonprofits rely on cash donations from individuals to use as unrestricted funding. Many large-scale donations and grants come with strings attached and must be spent on specific items (aka restricted funding). Cash donations allow nonprofits the autonomy to direct funds to where they are needed most and respond to unexpected emergencies. Learn more in our Making the Most Of Your Monetary Donations post.
When donating during an emergency
If you want to donate goods during an emergency, please ensure that you are responding to a call for specific items that the community needs. Otherwise, following a disaster, it is usually best to give cash, not goods. Although well-intentioned, sending goods can do more harm than good.
The best way to help during a crisis is to make monetary donations to locally-led organizations already operational on the ground.
When donating goods, you can never be sure what communities need most. Particularly when responding to an emergency where cultural preferences may be different from your own. It is much more cost-effective for you to give them money to buy in bulk and locally than it is for you to buy a product that must then be shipped to the community in crisis (especially considering the burden of shipping costs and customs fees). Buying locally has the added benefit of bolstering the local economy. It also ensures that shipping routes are not clogged with unneeded items, interfering with large-scale, coordinated relief efforts to deliver harder-to-get supplies.
When a crisis hits in another country, it can be hard to figure out who the most effective local organizations are. We also recommend donating to trusted international grantmaking organizations that redistribute funds to local groups in the form of grants. We like AJWS, Global Fund for Women, Global Fund for Children, Grassroots International, MADRE, Mama Cash, Thousand Currents, and Urgent Action Funds, among others. Check with them to see if they have grantee-partners in the country in crisis where you want to donate.
The benefits of direct cash transfers to people living in poverty
Some people prefer to donate goods because they think that people living in poverty will misuse a cash donation. For example, that the recipient will waste the cash on luxury items or alcohol, or not want to work. This feeling is often rooted in power, paternalism, and saviorism. And, research shows it’s simply not true. People who are poor know what they need to lift themselves out of poverty and, when given the chance, it’s exactly what they do. It’s time to trust them.
Putting cash in the hands of poor people (aka direct cash transfers and basic income programs) — and letting them determine how to spend it in order to improve their lives — is an effective and increasingly popular method of reducing poverty. From Stockton, California to countries around the world, cash transfer programs are often much more effective at producing long-term positive outcomes (think: increased nutrition, stable housing, school enrolment, and entrepreneurship) than traditional goods distribution programs. They also tend to cost less and help stimulate local economies.
We can apply these same lessons learned and best practices to our individual giving. The next time you have the option to directly give money versus goods, challenge yourself to trust the individual in need and just give them the cash with no strings attached. Or, check out Give Directly, a nonprofit that lets donors like you send money directly to the world’s poorest households.
A good rule of thumb
In most instances, we believe that making a monetary donation is more impactful than donating goods.
Cash donations ensure that nonprofits and social change organizations are able to buy exactly what they need to achieve their mission and give them the flexibility to direct resources to where they are most needed. Cash donations also mean that organizations can be nimble in their responses to unexpected emergencies. Direct cash transfers to individuals are also a proven method of reducing poverty and bringing about beneficial impacts across a range of outcomes.
However, there are a few exceptions. Consider donating goods when they:
Fit the exact needs of the individuals or community in need.
Cannot be purchased locally by the individuals or community in need.
Create an empowering experience for the individual or community served.
Are of greater value than a financial contribution.
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Originally published October 5, 2021.
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