How to Trash Ten Million Dollars
Every day companies all over North America are loading truck after truck with high quality useable items and sending them directly to the landfill. Why? Because it’s easy. I’m not talking about a few items here and there. I’m talking about tens of millions of dollars worth of furniture, tools, clothing, decor, etc. And don’t even get me started about food.
I’ve been in the “in-kind donations” industry now for the better part of a decade and have been witness to it time and time again. A recent example was a high-end home decor store sending almost a million dollars of items to the landfill (on one day) because they had, for the most part, insignificant scratches, small dents or simply were returned post purchase and they couldn’t put ‘used’ items back on the floor. I mean, who wants to buy a chair that somebody has already sat in, right?
On the flip-side there is…so….much…need. There are nearly 1,750,000 charities and non-profits in The U.S. and Canada. You heard me right, that’s one million seven hundred and fifty thousand individual organizations out there designed to help, in some way, make our world a better place. Every single one of these organizations needs something. Money, stuff, volunteers, marketing, and some need all of the above.
Companies are used to donating money, if you’re reading this I’m sure you’ve donated at some point and I’m sure you’ve worked for a company that has donated as well. The same goes for volunteering.
But what do they need money for? I know I know, it’s an obvious question…salaries, office supplies, rent, chairs to sit in and of course the most obvious, programming. Programming is the reason these organizations exist. Programming is the good they do, their passion and their mission.
I’ve visited hundreds of charities over the years and have been both pleasantly surprised and disgusted at the same time, at the conditions some of these charities are working in. I know…first world problems, but seriously I’ve seen duct-taped chairs, desks held together with straps and people literally sitting on the floor because they had no place to have meetings.
It’s great that they’re not spending our precious cash donations on buying a $3,000 mahogany u-shaped executive desk, but really?
I think you can see where I’m going with this. Tens of millions of dollars worth of furniture, equipment and supplies trashed and slashed (literally with razorblades) specifically so people can’t use them. And meanwhile charities are looking for a role of duct-tape so their chair doesn’t fall apart under them.
We started a company, DeliverGood.org, that matches companies who have ‘stuff’ with local charities and non-profits that need stuff. We’ve been operating for 7 years mainly in the Calgary area, because there’s been so much work. We’ve now expanded our web-based service to operate throughout The U.S. and Canada.
We’re just now starting our push in North America. We’ve spent the better part of a decade learning what works and what doesn’t work and have built our latest platform using all of those lessons.
Our system and process is quite simple. Companies who have extra ‘stuff’ (furniture, equipment, supplies, anything really) login and post it on DeliverGood.org. Once it’s been posted it’s available for charities and non-profits to shop for…for FREE!. DeliverGood has managed the donation of tens-of-thousands of items over the years and in fact since re-launching,our new system just a couple months back, we’ve processed exactly 5,254 items.
DeliverGood creates a win-win-win scenario. Companies save money by not spending on dump fees, charities are able to save money on their office infrastructure/supplies budget and as we like to say…the landfill remains hungry.
We just completed our first donation in California and we’re really excited about it. A large tech company posted 1,000 emergency ration kits on our site and within hours they were ordered (for free) by a local charity that works with the homeless.
We have lot’s of great stories and examples of donations that have happened and the impact they’ve had. From meatballs to cement pads — truly. We’ve often been asked if markets will become saturated with ‘stuff’ but I can tell you that after going for 7+ years in Calgary, when items are added to our site they still go fast, like really fast, typically same day.
The bottom line is this: There’s NO reason a company should be throwing away useable items now that this service exists. There is so much need out there and our system is extremely efficient and cost effective. With 1.75Million charities and non-profits in The Unites States and Canada you can only imagine how much need there is.
For years, companies have quietly done what they thought they had to. There’s now no excuse. Do the right thing, something your company can be proud of and something you can celebrate.
Here’s a video that explains how DeliverGood can help: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyfB7FD2Ui0
