Charity Donations

Charity donations are a great option when you are pressed for time and need the room, more than the stuff. It is pretty darn easy to bag it up and drop it at Goodwill or your favorite thrift store. If you want a tax receipt you should call, ahead to find out what information they will need from you.

If you get a receipt that only states the number of bags, boxes and/or categories donated, you will want to make a more detailed list before you leave home. This can be as simple as 12 girl’s shirts, 10 kid’s jeans, etc. or, as detailed as Tommy Hilfiger Jeans, 3 pr. Mudd jeans, 1 Victoria’s Secret Robe. The results being you know the approximate value of your donation when tax time rolls around. When I get home, I staple my list to the receipt and file it in the tax file. The tax laws change every year so check with your accountant to see what information you are required to provide. If you are a do it yourself kind of person Turbo Tax offers free software, ItsDeductible, to help you figure the worth of non-cash charity donations.

Not all charity donations will result in a tax receipt. Sometimes just getting the clutter out of the house is enough. If the goal is to keep usable items from the landfill, mission accomplished. Pat yourself on the back, take yourself to lunch, have desert. Ok, maybe just enjoy the moment.

So what types of items make good charity donations? If you can sell it, you can give it away. Check your favorite charity to see if they have a wish list. You may have something they need. Remember to call ahead and confirm that they are interested in your donation. There are many charities looking for items they need, or items they can sell to make money for the items they need.

Thrift Stores

Goodwill Industries have collection points in nearly every community. The only thing so far that I have come across that they will not take is televisions that are not cable ready. Goodwill also has an online auction called shopgoodwill.com where they auction off items that have been donated.

Habitat for Humanity International has thrift stores called Restores. This is a great place to recycle all your left over building supplies. You can search for Restores by zip code to find the closest.

Salvation Army also has thrift stores in most communities. You can find locations by visiting their website. It may take you a minute to find. You need to first start narrowing down your location by country and eventually you will find a link for either Adult Rehabilitation Centers, or non-financial donations. That should get you to a search by zip code page.

There are many options in donating to thrift stores from national organizations to churches, hospitals, and battered women’s charities. So pick your favorite, give them a call to see if they can use what you no longer want.

Senior Centers & Youth Groups

Craft items, either leftover craft supplies, or recycled items that can be used for crafting. This includes, paper, crayons, glue, used greeting cards, out of date calendars, hard to recycle plastic tubs for washing paint brushes, foam trays that you get in the produce department for paint pallets, wallpaper samples and roll ends, wood scraps, tile scraps, cd’s (AOL), glass jars the list is endless.

They may also take your used magazines, books, clothing, hot air popcorn poppers (I donated one to 4-H to use for an after school program), and large cardboard boxes (the local senior center needed boxes to build a haunted house). Do not throw it away if someone else can use it, better to give it away than to throw it away.

Animal Shelter

Lions Club International

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