Donation Drive Toolkit

Whether it’s at your school or work, through a community service group or church, in your neighborhood or with a circle of friends, hosting a donation drive clears clutter, promotes sustainability and provides skill building for individuals who need a hand up.

• Reach out to organizations, schools and businesses to partner with, making sure you have any necessary permissions to hold and promote the donation drive.
• Determine the collection process and the helpers you need. Consider a block party collection drive, curbside pickup, parking lot drop-off or boxes in a lunchroom or lobby.
• Place donation bins in a high-visibility spot within a central location withing a building.
• Protect donations from weather or theft.

• Come up with a theme for the donation drive to make it timely and seasonal, whether it’s spring cleaning, a team-building exercise or a pre-holiday cleanout.
• Create an incentive. To boost participation and interest, come up with a fun reason for people to get involved, such as breaking the donors into teams and rewarding the group that contributes the most.

• Place posters wherever you have permission to use the space.
• Let friends, neighbors and coworkers know through social media and email.
• Share details of the event, including when the donation drive is, how long the donation drive will last and how donations will be collected.

• Thank your donors with signage in the same places you used for promotion of the drive along with social media and email. We’ve included tools to get you started.
• Share the good work you are doing for neighbors in your community by taking some photos and tagging us on social @GoodwillNCW.

Find everything you need to know about our donation hours, where to donate, what to donate and printable receipts here: goodwillncw.org/donate

We appreciate you giving the store a heads-up that you will be stopping by with donations from your drive. What time will you be there? How much do you anticipate delivering? We want to make sure our donation door is staffed to give you the customer service you deserve. Find locations here: goodwillncw.org/locations

• School donation drives: Hosting a drive at school is an opportunity to educate students about the importance of recycling and giving back. Kids, families, teachers and administration are encouraged to bring gently used donations to school.
• Business donation drives: Companies can sponsor donation drives targeting employees and the public when applicable as a way to support a local nonprofit.
• Organization donation drives: Whether you’re representing a club, church, neighborhood or civic organization, you may decide to have a drive to collect only one particular item, such as a coats or shoes.
• College drives: These drives are held at the end of a semester when students are preparing to move out. Campus organizations such as sororities, fraternities or the student government association can sponsor drives.

Unfortunately, we do not offer pickup at this time.

Contact the Marketing Team at Goodwill NCW at [email protected].