Corporations can donate overstock to Habitat

If overstock merchandise is a problem for your business, Habitat for Humanity has a solution for you. Habitat makes it easy for corporations to donate overstock items to charity through our ReStores. Overstock donations might include products that have been mis-packaged, damaged, returned, discontinued or are end-of-the-line. All of these types of overstock donations can help Habitat continue to build houses so that everyone can come home to a safe place.

Habitat for Humanity ReStores are outlets which sell new and gently used donated items for 30 per cent to 70 per cent less than their original value. There are a plethora of ReStore locations across the GTA, and you can find the location nearest to you by following this link. Habitat issues charitable tax receipts for donations of product valued at over $100. When you donate, your items make their way through our warehouse, where they are appraised and priced.

Then your items are placed in the store to be given a second life in a new home. The funds from purchases made in our ReStore help to cover Habitat’s administrative costs. That means that when you donate to Habitat’s home building projects, 100 per cent of your money goes toward building homes for local families.

Habitat ReStores rely on donations from individuals and organizations. Corporate partners are a huge supporter of of Habitat’s efforts, and Habitat is happy to offer a way to demonstrate corporate social responsibility while also helping companies to get rid of excess product. 

Accepted items from corporate donors include kitchens and cabinetry, sinks, toilets and vanities, hardware, tools, unused flooring or tile, new and like-new windows, interior and exterior doors, office supplies and furniture, scrap metal, new building supplies, new paint and new lighting and electrical supplies. A full list of accepted donation items, as well as a list of items which we have to say “no thank you” to, can be found on Habitat’s website.

You can make your donation by dropping items off at your closest ReStore, or by scheduling a free pickup from your office building. For more information on Habitat’s Corporate Product Donation Program, contact Charles Digiovanni by emailing cdigiovanni@habitathm.ca or calling 289-208-5608. You can also schedule a pickup through the pickup form on our website, which you can access by following this link. More information is also available through the corporate product donation page on our website.

If you’re in the construction business, you may also be able to donate to Habitat build projects through our Gift-In-Kind program. Accepted gift-in-kind donations include, but aren’t limited to, items like tools, hard hats, safety equipment and gloves. When your corporation chooses to support Habitat through giving items in kind, you are choosing to have a direct impact on our efforts to build safe, decent and affordable homes for local families.

We also accept hospitality donations of food and coffee so that we can fuel our onsite build volunteers, staff and community members. When corporate teams sign up for a Habitat build day, they’re provided with personal protective equipment such as safety glasses, steel-toed boots and gloves, tools and lunch. During our busy build season we can have several different corporate teams coming out each week, so donations of any of these items help to keep our build sites running smoothly.

When you donate overstock to Habitat for Humanity, you’re making a deliberate choice to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. You’re showing that you care about affordable housing in your community, and that you support an organization dedicated to a vision of a world where everyone has a safe, decent and affordable place to call home.

But donating overstock to Habitat isn’t just something that makes your company look good. You’re helping the environment by diverting waste which could end up in a landfill, and you’re recycling product by giving it a new chance at life in a Habitat ReStore. Depending on the products that your company donates, they may also be upcycled at Habitat’s new ReVive Centre in Mississauga. Items that get the DIY treatment by teams in our ReVive Centre go back into a ReStore to be sold.

Donating also helps you to clear valuable space in your warehouse to make room for new product shipments, and reduce any costs that come from storing extra or overstock merchandise. Plus, you avoid any potential hassles with liquidators or waste disposal companies, since Habitat’s donation process is quick, easy and straightforward.

Those are far from the only benefits when you donate overstock product to Habitat for Humanity. When you donate, you’re also making a direct and positive impact on your community. Your donation of overstock inventory helps Habitat for Humanity Halton-Mississauga with ongoing several build projects. We recently held the key ceremony for our Bett-Knowlton build in Acton, the culmination of our unique partnership with Community Living North Halton. In this project, Habitat built a fully accessible home for three gentlemen with autism.

The Bett-Knowlton build was made possible because of the support of many individuals and groups, including our amazing corporate sponsors who donated overstock product to the ReStore and build site through gift-in-kind donations. Habitat currently has build projects in Burlington, Georgetown and Mississauga. To see the home build projects that your product donations support, check out Habitat’s build website.

Every year, Habitat receives thousands of donated products and goods from local corporations. Overstock items make up a big portion of these donations, allowing us to have product to sell on the shelves of our ReStores. You’ll receive a charitable tax receipt when you donate overstock to a Habitat ReStore.

If your corporation is interested in getting involved with Habitat for Humanity in another capacity, we also offer great team building experiences and options for workplace giving programs. You can learn more by following this link to a blog post about Habitat’s corporate donation options.

To make a corporate donation to Habitat, email cdigiovanni@habitathm.ca or call 289-208-5608. You can also drop items off at Habitat ReStore locations across the GTA, including in Mississauga, Milton or Burlington. Our friendly procurement and ReStore teams will liaise with your corporation, and make your donation experience a breeze. We can’t wait to hear from you and find a home for your overstock products in a ReStore today.

By Sherina Harris