Be a Goodwill Ambassador
Be a Goodwill Ambassador by organizing your very own Goodwill donation drive in your neighborhood, school or community. We at Goodwill appreciate the community’s support in spreading the word about our programs and services and why it’s important to give to Goodwill. Here’s some quick tips to get you started. We’ll help you every step of the way and can provide a donation toolkit with flyers, paycheck stuffers and more to assist in your efforts.
Steps to a Successful Community, School or Workplace Clothing Drive
Preparation
Learn as much about Goodwill as you can. Read our website or contact our PR & Marketing Department to make onsite presentations to students and co-workers.
- Recruit co-workers, neighbors and friends to help organize the drive.
- Assign each a specific task. Who will be your planners? Who will be
your marketers? Who will be your collectors? - Select the type of donation drive you will organize. Will you be holding a
neighborhood drive and collect donations from homes and other locations? Or, will you be holding a school or office drive that has a central location for dropping off donations?
Neighborhood Clothing Drives
- Determine how many vehicles you have for the collection day and how far you are willing to travel to collect donations.
- Create a schedule that allows enough time to promote the clothing drive and has a single collection day (with times).
School and Office Clothing Drive
- Determine a highly trafficked area for clothing collection (building lobby, reception, lunchroom or main conference/assembly area).
- Receive approval from school or business officials to hold the clothing drive at their location and agreement to allow on-site promotion.
- Create a schedule that allows enough time to promote the clothing drive before and during a one or two week period of donation collection.
- Secure large collection boxes/bins, attach collection signs with details of clothing drive and place in designated locations.
Donation Collection and Drop-Off
- Collect donations on the designated date and deliver to your local Goodwill donations center or call us and we’ll pick them up from your site.
- For school and office drives, check donation bins regularly to keep the area organized and to determine if an early Goodwill drop-off is necessary.
- Weigh and record the total poundage of the donation drive results and fill out one form to be given to the Goodwill donation center attendant.
- Make sure that Goodwill donation center attendants are aware that the donations you are dropping off are part of your organization’s Donation Drive.
Recognition
- Remind your neighbors, school children and co-workers that their donations fund Goodwill’s job training programs, employment placement services and other essential community-based programs that help people in their community who have a disability, lack education or job experience or are having difficulties finding work.
- Thank everyone for their generous donations and send out announcements with the total amount of
clothing collected.