Community Chat

[AuntG]

While it would be sad if like new items were tossed, some donations are absolute garbage.

[traveler]

Our largest Salvation Army donation and store location was damaged and closed in the Nov. 30 earthquake. People continued to drop off ovens, furniture, other items outside the locked gate. There were news stories asking people to use other locations or charities. Still people dropped off trash in the snow. Now the SA has to take it all to the dump and pay a fee. I read a large part of any charity’s budget is disposing of unsalable items. That’s why they are so picky.

[novamc1]

@KingstonsMom 

The recent change in the tax law  regarding charitable donations and tax credits renders just about all donations of used clothing and household goods fairly useless. 

I no longer collect receipts for the donations and just drop them off.

DH and I used to itemize and go through the steps of estimating value of items donated to Salvation Army or Goodwill............not worth the time anymore. 

We don't even make our usual  large cash donations to certain favorite charitable institutions, because we would get no credit for it on our taxes.

One strategy is to skip donating for  a year or two and make all donations in one year....... lumped together, the dollar amount  COULD give us a tax break for that year.

I'm waiting for the predicted consequences of this tax law change to really annoy and vex the charities, and  would like to see some numbers about the drop in charitable contributions from ordinary taxpayers. 

The very wealthy might still donate huge amounts and work the law to their benefit, but many  common folks cannot donate enough in one year to make a dent in our taxes.

[SoX]

Here's an eye-opening article you might want to consider ...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/this-is-what-really-happens-to-your-used-clothing...

[Grouchomarx]

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@SoX wrote:

Here's an eye-opening article you might want to consider ...

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/this-is-what-really-happens-to-your-used-clothing...

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Wow that's an interesting article.  Makes me feel guilty for owning so many clothes. I always take what I'm getting rid of and dump it in one of those huge donation bins at the gas station or local drugstore parking lot.  Always wonderered where they go and what happens to them.  

[lovesrecess]

I worked with clients  (employees) of Goodwill when I was in graduate school....I can't imagine anything would be tossed in a dumpster,  especially without even knowing what the bags contained.
My clients, who had special needs, sorted donated clothing and pulled anything that was torn or soiled. Those things were bundled and sold to a factory that used them for rags. Nothing donated to the Goodwill should go to waste.
I hope they did indeed move this employee to another area at the very least.

[lovesrecess]

There are many not-so-charitable groups who place donation boxes in parking lots of WM, etc. Many have vague names but most will have pictures of a child or have he name "kids" in their name... recently "planet" "mission" and "climate" are popular in the names....all scams and should be avoided unless you first look up the name on Charitynavigator.com and see if it is legit before putting anything inside....many of these boxes are rarely emptied but are frequently ransacked and I see donations strewn all over the outside of the box....rarely is it ever picked up. Another red flag is if a phone number and/or website.. is not displayed.