Clothing donations are not only a good way to clean out your closet, they’re a great way to help families in need. Not only that, but you can donate more than clothing to your local veterans charities and thrift stores. If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to charitable donations, these five tips will help make your next one a breeze.
Itemize What You Plan to Donate
As you place things into your box, make sure to keep a running list of the things you plan to give away. Note the condition and approximate value for each item you plan to donate, and be realistic. If it?s a t-shirt in fair condition, it?s not worth more than $5. Many charitable organizations have a list of approximate values that you can use to estimate how much your items are worth.
Similar Things Go Together!
To make the jobs of volunteers and workers easier, make sure you’re packing similar items in the same boxes. Putting dishes with sneakers just won’t do, and it will only confuse you and the people working to help you. It takes time to sort through the hundreds of donations they receive each day, and taking a few minutes to sort your items could help a lot more than you think.
Wrap Fragile Items
Wrapping your fragile donations can save everyone time and stress. If you don’t wrap any of your fragile items, and they arrive broken, they can’t be donated. Not only that, but if they’re found broken after you leave, it can be taken as a sign that you don’t care enough to take care of your items.
Wash Dirty Clothing
This might seem like a fairly obvious piece of advice, but it really does matter. Most thrift shops wash the clothing they receive before it ever hits the sales racks, but washing your clothing donations before you take them in can help prevent any other clothes from getting dirty as you pack them up.
Last, make sure you get a receipt from the organization you’re donating to. Not only can it help you remember what items you donated, your donation could be deducted from your yearly taxes. Refernce materials.
