The time has come for you to clean house and get rid of the old decor. Knick-knacks, throws, curtains, and even some furniture is all fair game for replacing. But don’t throw all of that on the curb! Instead, take everything to a charitable organization that benefits at-risk children, and let someone else benefit from your castoffs while you get a tax write-off. It’s a great way to support organizations that focus on lifting up children who are at risk of falling by the wayside in school and in their home life.
Should You Donate Your Old Stuff to Charity?
Image via Flickr by Christine Heilmann
It’s a fairly straightforward process to donate your stuff, but you want to make sure that the charity you give to is going to benefit. Sometimes a charity isn’t equipped to handle direct donations, or goes through another organization to sell items and gets less money as a result. A good example is when you donate a large item such as a car. The organization will most likely sell the car at an auction instead of selling directly. While this doesn’t necessarily lessen the effort you’re making to donate, it does put less money into the coffers of the charity.
Consider putting together a yard sale to sell items and donate the proceeds instead. It never hurts to put up a sign that a certain percentage or all of the profits are to go to a local at-risk children’s charity to encourage sales.
Donating Through Buying New Items
When you go to buy new stuff, shop at places like Pier 1 and Pottery Barn. The reason being is that both of these retailers are involved in charitable organizations that help kids. Spending money at either store eventually results in some of your purchase going into their foundations. From there, that money gets distributed to organizations that are in other countries and located around their headquarters.
The money won’t stay local to your community, but it does reach those who are in need of it and benefit greatly from the funds that a large corporation can raise.
Keeping the Donations Local
Charities exist on a local, regional, national, and international level. Your donations have the potential to spread around the world to help children that are most in need. But when you want to help those in your own backyard, you need to find a charity that puts the money into local efforts. That way the money gets turned into programs and goods that directly benefit the kids who need it the most.
Your old home furnishings can do much more than you think. Proceeds from their sale provides economic benefits beyond anything you could imagine. Supporting at-risk children gives them a future that they wouldn’t have a shot at otherwise. The efforts you make to donate money and items creates a ripple effect to help children reach their potential. You open doors for them while you get a tax write-off and new stuff to put in your home. Everyone comes out ahead in the long run.