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Online Database Connects Computer Donors and Recipients
by Barry Cranmer President Share the Technology Millions of computers are discarded every year in the United States. At the same time, schools and nonprofit organizations, as well as disabled and economically disadvantaged individuals, either do without computers or struggle along using equipment that's older than machines that are being thrown away. It makes no sense to waste resources that so many people need. Share the Technology, our nonprofit computer recycling project, salvages used computer equipment that still has useful life and donates it to organizations that can use it. Matching Donors and Recipients Online In addition to physically collecting, repairing and donating computers in New Jersey, we wanted to find a way to help facilitate similar donations in other locations. Our solution was to develop an online, searchable database that lists donation offers and requests throughout the United States. As of November 1999, we have about 1,500 requests listed, from almost every state in the nation. We also have requests listed from a couple dozen other countries (so far under 5% of total requests). On the donor side, the supply tends to run about 10% of the volume of requests. Matches happen quickly -- there have been cases of organizations being called within minutes of listing their requests -- and we're working to increase donation volume. As a public service, we offer this listing service without charge to either donors or recipients. Thanks to connections made through our database, hundreds of computers that would have been discarded and destroyed are now serving people across the country. We use the Internet to connect people in other locations quickly, at very low cost -- no long-distance phone calls, letters or applications are necessary. How It Works Prospective donors and organizations seeking donations can visit our Web site, complete an online form and click on "submit." We receive automatic notices of pending listings via e-mail. We review listings before adding them to our live database, and can respond to inappropriate submissions and correct errors via e-mail. Organizations seeking donations can also include brief descriptions of their projects and needs. This way, they can "speak" directly to prospective donors and try to persuade them to consider making donations to their organizations, in addition to specifying the kind of equipment they are seeking. All the information they provide is available to prospective donors, who are able to search the database online to look for suitable recipients. More than Computers While we focus on computer equipment in our reuse project, donors have offered a variety of other items for donation as well. Recently, within just a couple of weeks, we helped the IRS find a recipient for 50 pallets of office furniture which had been stored in a warehouse and threatened with disposal. The Internet Makes it Possible The Internet has enabled us to connect with many people we could never have afforded to reach using paid advertising or postal mailings. We use the Internet to publicize the donation database as well. When organizations submit their donation requests, we mail each a copy of a brief press release that we ask them to print and mail to their local newspapers. Since they have an interest in increasing their chances for donation, they're usually quite willing to help with publicity. We believe that other nonprofits could also use online databases to arrange exchanges of resources for their clients. Our database developer, Quay (wquay@web-savvy.com), is now customizing resource exchange databases for other organizations. Are there specific items your clients need which you could make available by using a donation database? If so, consider implementing such a service. Donation databases work, and both donors and recipients are happy with the results. See Share the Technology on the Web at http://www.libertynet.org/share
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Fundraising & Grants.... Online Fundraising for Nonprofits (November, 2005) IT Fundraising for Nonprofits (March, 2005) Evaluating Donor Management Software (May, 2004) Grantwriting for Technology Workshop Opens UWNYC's 2003 Fall Tech Event Season (October, 2003) Grant Writing for Dummies: New Software to Help Ease the Pain (April, 2002) Online Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations: A Primer (January, 2001) Online Fundraising Resources (January, 2001) Globix Technology Grants help Nonprofits Realize Operating Efficiencies (November, 2000) New Web Site Facilitates Quality Program and Evaluation Planning (March, 2000) Researching High-Tech Corporation Philanthropy (March, 2000) Online Database Connects Computer Donors and Recipients (December, 1999) Other Articles of Interest.... Nonprofits Benefit from ePayments Technology (April, 2001) The Nonprofit Web Site: Tips for Attracting and Retaining Visitors (April, 2001) Covering Web Site Costs and Online Fund Development (January, 2001) TechSoup - Free Lunch for Tech-Hungry Nonprofits (July, 2000) Developing a Technology Plan: Key to Getting Needed Funds (October, 1999) Distance Learning & Training can be Low-Key, Low-Tech, & Low-Budget (October, 1999) Stretch your Technology Budget - Take Advantage of Product Donations (June, 1999) FAQs and Beyond: Free Eduation and Training for Nonprofits, Part II (December, 1998) The Road to Resources is Paved with Information (December, 1998) |
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