Guest blog from Kyle Payton, General Manager at ThriftCart
With three years in the thrift industry during a pivotal shift to omnichannel selling, Kyle Payton helps stores better manage inventory and forecast product needs. As General Manager at ThriftCart, he focuses on equipping nonprofit thrift operations with point of sale technology that makes their day-to-day operations easier. Kyle’s passion lies in helping thrift store managers embrace digital solutions that support their unique mission and maximize their impact in the community. “Supporting nonprofits is incredibly rewarding. I’m here to provide thrift store managers with the tools they need to thrive, so they can continue making a positive difference in their communities.”
Physical gifts are a fantastic asset for local charities. They lower your overhead, provide immediate resources for your programs, and give your supporters a tangible way to connect with your mission. They’re even essential for certain fundraising events, such as charity auctions.
However, sorting through a never-ending mountain of broken, dirty, or completely unusable items is exhausting. It quickly crowds your storage rooms and drains valuable volunteer hours that should be spent on your actual cause.
Sourcing high-quality in-kind donations does not mean turning away gifts from your community — it just requires clearer boundaries and strategies. This guide covers practical steps to upgrade the quality of your incoming goods while keeping your backend intake simple and organised.
Define Clear Donation Standards
Setting expectations early is the most effective way to protect your team’s time and storage capacity. When a charity operates without clear parameters, well-meaning donors default to dropping off any item that could be used, regardless of whether it’s in good condition or actually useful for your mission. Establishing transparent donation standards ensures that every contribution directly advances your programming instead of adding to your disposal costs.
Consider implementing these ways to establish healthy boundaries without frustrating your loyal supporters:
- Share explicit rules. Create an easy-to-read guide on your website that clearly lists what condition items need to be in, what categories you can take, and what items you cannot accept under any circumstances. For example, a charity running a thrift store might only request new or gently-used clothing donations to stock its store.
- Tell people what you need. Keep your community updated on which categories are running low or which items are currently overstocked so they can plan their dropoffs effectively. Utilising real-time updates across your social media channels prevents your facility from becoming overwhelmed by seasonal surpluses while ensuring a steady supply of high-demand goods.
- Establish designated dropoff times. Restricting intake to specific hours ensures you always have trained staff or volunteers on duty to evaluate goods, preventing anonymous, overnight dumping in your parking lot.
For example, let’s say your next school fundraiser is a bake sale. In this case, you would make a list of any baked goods that you’d accept and create a log of all the items parents pledge to bring. Then, you can make a note when there’s enough of any one type of baked good, and ask new volunteers to donate other baked items instead. You should also communicate to donors the date and time that these items should be dropped off, ideally, the morning of the bake sale.
Clear guidelines and communication like this ensure that you obtain the in-kind gifts you need, while preventing donors from giving items that aren’t beneficial to your mission.
Train Your Staff to Screen Items
Having detailed guidelines listed on your website provides a solid reference point, but your in-kind gift workflow requires a polite, highly structured screening process the moment a donor arrives. Equipping your workforce with consistent training prevents subpar inventory from slipping through the cracks and ensures donors have a good experience that keeps them coming back.
Organisations can use several methods to train and support their frontline workforce:
- Use clear visual checklists that outline acceptable wear and tear versus items that need to be turned away.
- Give your team a strict, non-negotiable list of items with safety and legal hazards that must never be accepted under any circumstances, such as opened cosmetics or outdated appliances.
- Teach your volunteers friendly, polite ways to say no to items that do not meet your standards so they feel comfortable setting boundaries.
- Be honest about your capacity, and gently remind donors that accepting goods that require major repairs or heavy cleaning can drain your charity’s funds.
- Practice with mock donations of varying quality so staff can get used to making real-time, objective categorisation decisions under pressure before interacting with real donors.
To protect your staff from burnout, establish a clear escalation path that allows coordinators to handle difficult refusals. Empowering volunteers with an immediate management backup ensures they maintain strict quality controls without feeling socially isolated or stressed during tough donor conversations.
Use Software to Simplify the Receipting Process
The final moment of the dropoff interaction leaves a lasting impression on your in-kind contributors. If a donor experiences a sluggish, paper-heavy receipting process, they’re far less likely to return with premium items in the future. Modernising this part of the donation process with specialised technology shows respect for their generosity and time.
Deploy smart backend management solutions by:
- Sending digital receipts quickly. Use digital tools right at the dropoff point to log gifts and send clean donation receipts straight to the donor’s inbox. Automating receipts can eliminate manual data entry errors and immediately provide donors with the clean tax documentation they expect.
- Looking at your data. Check your records regularly to see which local networks, businesses, or collection events bring in your highest-quality goods, and use that information to adjust your strategy.
- Enabling automated follow-up triggers. Set your system to auto-send a feedback survey or a tailored mission impact update email a week after a high-value donation is logged.
Depending on what you need the in-kind gifts for, you can leverage specialised software with features tailored to your needs. For example, if your charity runs a secondhand store, ThriftCart recommends investing in dedicated thrift store software that includes features for donations, inventory management, discounting and pricing, and payment processing.
Build Local Networks for High-Quality Donations
Relying solely on passive residential dropoffs limits your inventory to whatever happens to be left in your neighbours’ closets. To consistently secure good items, your charity should form strategic local relationships. Building intentional networks with commercial and institutional partners improves the volume and value of your incoming material.
Proactive outreach lets you negotiate for bulk lots, high-end surplus, and near-new assets before they end up in landfills or are damaged. Rather than waiting for opportunities to find you, use these active outreach principles to develop corporate and local partnerships:
- Frame partnerships around corporate problem-solving. Instead of asking for a favour, show local business owners how donating solves their logistical problems. Position your charity as a reliable zero-waste partner that can help them reduce commercial storage fees, clear excess inventory, and achieve their corporate sustainability goals.
- Network where local business decisions are made. Step outside of traditional charity circles to advocate for your in-kind programs. For example, you could secure speaking slots at Chamber of Commerce breakfasts, attend local commercial real estate mixers, and join business-association events to build direct, face-to-face trust with managers who control physical assets.
- Provide a smooth, B2B-style coordination experience. Establish a reputation for operational reliability. Offer guaranteed, prompt pickup windows, assign clear points of contact, and deliver accurate, immediate tax documentation so donating is easier for them than discarding.
Additionally, forming partnerships for in-kind donations may lead to other valuable partnerships in the future. For example, a pre-existing relationship with a business may make it easier for you to pitch other corporate social responsibility initiatives — Re:Charity suggests pitching matching gift programs for an easy new collaboration.
Securing high-quality in-kind donations requires a strict shift from passive acceptance to deliberate selection. By combining clear quality standards with modern software, your charity can build a pipeline of usable goods and inspire your community to participate further in your mission.
This post was written by a guest contributor. The views expressed are the author’s own and don’t necessarily reflect the positions of Fundraising Everywhere. Content from guest authors may reflect different approaches, experiences, or perspectives to those covered in other events and training.