When organizing a donation to charity, choosing the right nonprofit can be time-consuming, especially for large or complex donations!
If you’re putting together a donation in New York City, here are some of the best places to donate. As always, document everything and be prepared to arrange pickup or drop-off well in advance.
We’ll start with the majors: Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Habitat for Humanity ReStore. All three accept a wide variety of household and personal items. Most areas in the United States are served by these national nonprofits, and NYC is no exception.
Habitat for Humanity Restore is an excellent choice, and many of our clients use this resource. They also accept vehicles! Their ability to take larger items in bulk makes them an ideal choice for donating business inventory. Consider them when you are donating items such as:
Goodwill has many drop-off and pick-up locations, though it is important to ensure that your donation will be accepted well in advance. For example, large furniture is often rejected due to space or transport costs.
Salvation Army also offers a useful donation value guide so you can get an idea of what your items are worth. This information can help you decide whether your donation is likely to exceed the $5,000 value that requires an appraisal.
New York City also provides some unique tax deductible donation opportunities. The following nonprofits allow you to support programs and initiatives closer to home.
Housing Works funds vital services such as housing, healthcare, and AIDS/HIV support. They accept donations of the following:
Materials for the Arts is an NYC program that takes materials and supplies to redistribute to schools, non-profits, etc. They are a great choice for items such as:
A donation to Materials for the Arts supports arts education, ensuring that New York City remains a vibrant cultural center for generations to come.
Big Reuse is one of the best options in NYC for large-scale building materials, furniture, and appliances. This is a great choice if you are looking to make a large-scale donation of building items such as:
Located in Brooklyn, their mission is to fight climate change by moving towards zero waste.
City Opera Thrift Shop is a good choice for the following items:
If your donation is unique or related to the performing arts, City Opera can be a good fit. Theatrical or period pieces are most likely to be accepted, and excellent condition is important.
National or local, finding the right nonprofit will help ensure that your donation supports New York City while providing meaningful savings at tax time. Learn more here about how to organize an effective tax-deductible donation.
This is by no means a comprehensive list, and if you have a favorite nonprofit not mentioned here, get in touch and let us know!
