5 Things to Consider When Organizing a Donation Warehouse

A donation warehouse can be an extremely useful location for a business when it comes to making use of its warehouse space and taking advantage of any donations that come in. However, many people often have a hard time using their valuable warehouse space due to their lack of knowledge about the different areas that need to be considered when making use of this type of facility. In this article, we will explain the various areas that must be considered when using a donation warehouse. We will also give you a brief description of what your options are should you decide to donate your goods to a local facility.

One area that is often overlooked when it comes to donating goods to a donation warehouse is your staff capacity. Many businesses mistakenly assume that their staff strength is what will determine the amount of donations they can make from their facility. This simply is not true. The amount of donations that can be made from a single location is based on the staff capacity of your business as well as the amount of in-kind donations you have made recently. If you have just had an extremely successful year financially, or you have just had some difficult financial times, then you may have an incredibly high number of in-kind donations to make this year as well. Both these situations will increase your staff capacity significantly.

Child abuse is a serious issue that has unfortunately been in the news quite frequently in the last few years. As a result, a lot of good, quality, donated goods have gone to waste because of the misconceptions about how a child abuse donation warehouse works. Some people think that all you have to do is write up a simple letter and then drop it off at the donation warehouse and it will handle everything for you. That's simply not true. It is vitally important that you understand your responsibilities when donating to a child abuse facility, and there are some steps you can take to ensure that you're meeting those responsibilities.

First, it is absolutely critical that you have your business and your name on all advertising for your donation warehouse. Your donations will absolutely go towards the charities that you donate to, but if no one knows your business is even doing the donation, then no one is going to give. Advertising is the key to successful donating to child abuse prevention organizations. Not only does it help support the actual charity, it helps support the name you have built up for your business.

Second, you need to be very clear about how you intend on spending the money that you raise from your donations. The only way to know if you're going to use the funds to support the charity or use them to repair, clean and sell donated items is if you've broken down your plans and objectives in writing. Donors like knowing exactly what they are contributing to and what their goals are. When you don't have a solid plan to achieve your goal, it's easy to get off track. For example, if your intention is to repair donated items, then don't ever suggest that you'll be using the funds to purchase new items for your store. It makes your customers very uncomfortable and can actually turn them away because they can't understand your plan for fundraising.

Third, you need to make sure that you are able to collect the donations properly.  agency  don't want to be hauling large donations of donated furniture or household products through city traffic. Ideally, you'd like to have the drivers pick up the donations at the donation warehouse, unload them and then either resell the items in your store, or take the furniture to an appliance exchange or other local donation charity for re-furbishing. If your donations include used furniture or appliances, you must also keep the items in a secure place for seven days or longer. Otherwise, these items could end up being discarded.

Fourth, you should always consider the cost of your in-kind donations. Most charities accept this, but it is also important for you to consider the cost of renting warehouse space, renting trucks, and so forth. Remember, your goal isn't just to raise money, but to have a valuable resource that serves a purpose that benefits the charity. If  agency  costs more to collect these items than it does to store them, it's probably not the right donation opportunity for your organization.

Fifth, it's important to consider the staff capacity requirements of the different types of in-kind donations. There's no standard size or type of donation container that your facility can use. Depending on how many donations your staff normally receives, it might be best to provide larger and more expensive containers that will allow room for the items, and also give the staff more storage capacity. Your warehouse should be flexible enough to meet these requirements.