Interested in making an in-kind donation? Here is everything you need to know.
Global Brigades accepts a limited amount of material donations as long as the guidelines below are followed. Solicited and unsolicited donations must be confirmed with the appropriate Program Associate and be inspected for the required quality and useful life compliance before acceptance. If you have a specific item(s) that you would like to donate, please contact your Program Associate to find out if your donations can be accepted.
- The donor must be informed that the recipient of the donation is Global Brigades, Inc. on behalf of your Chapter (i.e. Medical Brigades at Pennsylvania State University).
- Once Global Brigades accepts the donation, the donation will not be returned to the donor without the donor’s consent.
- Global Brigades cannot accept any items for resale or store donations.
Tax receipts for in-kind donations
Brigades that would like to have tax donation receipts provided to donors for making in-kind donations must first receive prior approval from Global Brigades, Inc. by contacting accounting@globalbrigades.org. Global Brigades will only provide in-kind donation receipts for large equipment items donated directly to Global Brigades, Inc., such as dental units, wheelchairs, etc. valued over $250. In order to receive recognition for the donation and a tax receipt, the Chapter Leader must submit the following information to their Program Associate:
- Name and address of the donor, specific office or title (if applicable)
- List/description of the donation, fair market value and date of the donation
- Declaration that the donated items were needed/used for the brigade and that all donated items were in the required condition
- Purchase receipt for donated item
Health supplies & donations
In the case of Medical and Dental Brigades, your chapter will be required to collect some health supplies and donations for your brigade. Please reach out to your Program Associate in order to receive a supplies and donations inventory sheet, according to your program and country. These items will be donated to patients after they have received their treatment in the clinic days. If you want some recommendations on how to get started, you can refer to these Supplies and Donations Guide in order to review some chapter’s best practices on how to collect these items.
Other material donations
As we strive to be as sustainable as possible, we cannot support handing out in-kind donations (old clothing, school supplies, toiletries, etc.) Handing out small amounts of such items results in unfair distribution of donations and can cause challenges within our community partners. To make the most of items such as used clothing, we suggest looking into organizations like thredUp. ThredUP takes like-new clothing and gives money to the donor’s charity of choice.