Donating can easily balloon into a part-time job if you are looking for an option beyond the obvious options like Goodwill. If you are not careful, giving something away can quickly lead to an entire research project on CEO salaries and how well charities manage their affairs. So let’s start at the top with the most-trusted online resources that monitor charities – which ironically are also charities. Here is what Consumers Reports had to say.
“The best course of action before giving is to check out the charity with one or more of the major charity watchdogs, including the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, and CharityWatch.”
Start with the Category
I was initially coming at this from the Home Sale and Downsizing perspective. I wanted to take territory and get the space ready. So my first thought was to start with the house and the areas that needed de-cluttering. However, that did not prove to be the best way to tackle this project. Starting with cluttered areas produced piles of items in several different categories (sell, give away, throw away, save for later, pass on to family, etc.). All that did was create new organized stacks of stuff but no real progress.
Marie Kondo’s Tidying Up series on Netflix starts instead with the items or categories which seemed to work much better (i.e. Clothes or Books). That process quickly creates a huge mess but there is a simple end game: Save your favorites and donate the rest. AND since you will be working with one item at time, only one donation recipient will be needed! This method was definitely slower in the beginning and takes a larger block of time. However, once the sorting is done you are off the the races.
Decisions are the hardest part with any de-cluttering process. And there are two phases: What and Where. Once those decisions are made, the actual work part is simple. It may be physical, but packing and loading is not complicated.
Common Categories and Charity Ideas
BOOKS
CLOTHES
- General – Women and Children
- General – Men
- Work/Interview – Women
COMPUTERS
ELECTRONICS
FURNITURE
- Atlanta Furniture Bank (They DO NOT accept items that have tears, stains or breaks, or office furniture)
- Atlanta Kidney Services (smaller items)
- Buckhead Christian Ministry
- Habitat for Humanity (big list of what they accept)
- Salvation Army
- Veterans “Atlanta Step Up Society” (Text pictures of what you want to donate to 404-618-5990 to get the ok)
GENERAL HOUSEHOLD
- American Kidney Services (Cookware and serving utensils, Silverware and glassware, Small appliances, Decorative items, Drapes and linens)
- Assistance League Thrift Store
- Community Assistance Center
- Habitat for Humanity (big list of what they accept)
- Southers Center in Chamblee Thrift Store
KITCHEN ITEMS
- American Kidney Services (Cookware and serving utensils, Silverware and glassware, Small appliances)
- Habitat for Humanity (list of what they accept)
- Salvation Army
SHEETS / LINENS /TOWELS
STUFFED ANIMALS
- Georgia Center for Child Advocacy
- Friends of Refugees Providing Education and Empowerment
- Ronald McDonald House
- Local Fire Station
- Fellow Neighbors via Nextdoor Post
TOOLS
- Habitat for Humanity (list of what they accept)
