How Much ‘Goodwill’ Is Your Donation Worth?
If just 1,000 people each donated 30 items, 1,000 community members would each receive more than four hours of a job search class. Photo: Flickr/Guanatos Gwyn
At least twice a year, Steve and Linda Giacoppo of Phoenix load up their car with clothes, electronics and small appliances to take to their local Goodwill store. And the perks go beyond tax write-offs.
“The items we donate are refurbished and sold in their stores, which creates jobs,” says Linda, 49. “It is also a super quick donation process. You just pull your car up to the back, and they unload it for you and place the items where they need them to be.”
But while Linda and Steve have received a monetary value for their goods, it was unclear just how much of an economical and real-world impact their items had.
Now, they can calculate that value themselves. Goodwill has officially launched its Donation Impact Calculator that shows consumers just how much weight their donations carry.
For example, one bicycle, one coat and one DVD provides a person with one hour of on-the-job training; one working computer provides 5.3 hours of career counseling and six shirts and two pairs of jeans provide one hour of a job search class.
According to an online survey conducted by Goodwill, nearly two-thirds (62 percent) of consumers donate to support causes they believe in. Despite their generosity, seven in 10 (71 percent) admit on occasion they’ve chosen not to donate their unused clothing.
In fact, for every one article of clothing donated, consumers have at least 30 more articles of clothing ready to be donated. Donating 30 articles would fund more than four hours of a job search class for one person.
Furthermore, if just 1,000 people each donated 30 items, 1,000 community members would each receive more than four hours of a job search class.
“We’re grateful to the thousands of people every year whose donations translate into much-needed job training and placement services. However, there is still more we can do,” says Jim Gibbons, president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International. “Many used items that could be turned into valuable community services are ending up in landfills. The ‘Donate Movement’ will help consumers understand the far-reaching positive impact of donating.”
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Michael Aronson
posted on July 8th, 2011 at 12:03 am