Charity Item Donations: A Guide for Families
Moving, spring cleaning, and the holiday season make you look at your belongings in a new light. What have you outgrown or finished using? You can make life better for those in need and streamline your lifestyle by donating everything from computers to clothing to furniture as gifts to charity.
What to Donate
You can give a lot more than you think. All kinds of charities all over the country can transform your old things into essential supplies, funding, and hope.
- Household items can include everything from electronics to evening gowns, and just about all of them can be donated if you find the right organization. Old cell phones, computers, and cameras can have a second life. Gently used clothing always has a place in thrift shops or homeless shelters. The same is true of linens, small appliances, and furniture.
- While the food in your freezer and refrigerator will probably need to go into the trash, dry and canned goods make great donations. Check with local food pantries, homeless shelters, and school support groups for immediate needs.
- Medical supplies may seem like a strange thing to donate, at least on the scale of a single family. However, plenty of hospices, aid organizations, and national charities accept even small medical supply donations.
- Pet supplies come in handy for animal shelters and rescues. Although the rules for each are a little different, nearly all of them accept unopened bags of food and treats. You may also be able to donate collars, leashes, and used towels.
- School and office supplies you don't need may make a world of difference for a teacher in an underfunded school. Local charities often create back-to-school or work-from-home kits for those in need. Your donation can help.
Tips for Donating
Closely review a nonprofit's donation guidelines before assembling your donation. Does a charity accept children's toys? What are the rules regarding electronics? Make sure you're giving what they are asking for and not treating the donation bin as a trash bin.
- Search for local charities that accept donated clothing and household goods. Many of the most impactful services address specific local needs. Search for homeless shelters, school drives, and community groups that get less attention than national organizations.
- Always wash clothes, linens, and other soft goods before donating them.
- If an item came with a case and you still have it, put it back in for donation. This includes glasses, electronics, and jewelry.
Where to Donate
- Local Libraries: Libraries always accept donations of books, magazines, movies, and CDs. Even if your donations don't have a place on the library's shelves, the library can sell them to boost revenue for public programs and newer materials.
- Operation Paperback: This organization gives your used books to troops overseas who need a bit of home or a handy distraction.
- Access Books: When people have lost everything, they often need an escape. Access Books collects used reading materials to distribute to emergency shelters where victims of hurricanes, floods, and other disasters find themselves with a lot of time and little to do.
- Secure the Call: Donate your old cell phones to help keep seniors in touch with their communities and maintain a lifeline to emergency services.
- Cell Phones for Soldiers: You can help soldiers stay in touch with friends and family by donating old phones to help both those overseas and veterans working on reassimilation at home.
- Vietnam Veterans of America: This organization accepts clothes, household goods, and even cars. They help veterans most in need of assistance, and your donations can be a big help. Since they accept such a wide range of donations, they're also a convenient charity for anyone in a rush. They even pick up donations in many areas.
- Furniture Bank: New furniture is expensive, and not all families can afford a crib for a new baby, a couch for family movie nights, or even a table big enough to let everyone eat together. Furniture banks across the country help these families access gently used furniture for little or no cost.
- OneSight: This nonprofit links people in need with used glasses. People around the world struggle to perform basic daily tasks because they simply can't see and they don't have access to proper health care.
- Habitat for Humanity: Habitat builds homes for people most in need. They also help families make repairs and fill their new homes with critical appliances through their ReStores. They accept home goods and appliances, tools and building materials, and even old cars.
- Dress for Success: You must dress well to make a good impression, but many low-income families can't afford nice clothes for job interviews. This organization gives your gently used professional clothing to people who need a new outfit for a new start on life.
- GreenDrop: Located across the country, the GreenDrop donation collection service partners with numerous charities to get your donations where they are most needed.
- Savers: Another network that helps other nonprofits, Savers accepts donations, pays charities, and handles the sale of many donated items to make the process easier for all. They also host fundraisers for local charities.
- MedicAlert Foundation Canada: This is the largest membership-based registered charity in Canada and the leading provider of emergency medical information services in the country.
- 49ers Foundation: This foundation run by the San Francisco 49ers helps give underprivileged students better opportunities. They auction off donated cars to fund their mission.
- Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation: This children's cancer nonprofit supports research and young survivors through not only monetary donations but also donated vehicles, including cars.
- Wheels for Wishes: This organization accepts donated vehicles, then resells the vehicles or their components and gives the money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
- Animal Humane Society Wish List: Here are all of the things the Humane Society would really like to have; it's likely that you have several of these things lying around.
Additional Resources
- Donate, Recycle, or Trash? Not everything in your closet is helpful to charities, but you may be surprised how much is recyclable.
- How to Tell When It's Time to Donate Your Clothing: Some things just don't belong in your closet anymore, and there's no point taking them with you when you move.
- Guide to Donating Your Car: Learn everything you need to know before you give your car to a nonprofit.
- Donation Value Guide: You might give from the heart, but your good intentions can help your wallet. Learn how to value donations for tax deductions.
- How to Value Non-Cash Charitable Donations: Learn how to value what you give and reap the tax benefits.
- Omaze: Omaze supports many wonderful causes and offers winners great incentives to enjoy unique experiences.
- Seven Surprising Things You Can Donate: You'd be surprised how much stuff can have a second life. Read this list before throwing anything in the trash.
- 15 Items You Can Donate to Your Local Animal Shelter: Dogs and cats need your help, and you can give it to them by donating things like used linens and even mascara brushes.
- Ten Tips for Donating a Computer: This guide walks you through donating your tech in a smart, safe way.
- Electronics Donation and Recycling: Tempted to just toss out your old monitor? Here are the EPA's reasons why you should think twice.