Benefits of donating

More and more companies are choosing to help good causes by giving in kind. It makes perfect sense to channel surplus products to the people who need them most, rather than opt for the environmentally unfriendly and expensive alternative of landfill.

The growth of gifts in kind has risen sharply since 2000, according to Business in the Community's 2005 PerCent Index, published in November by The Guardian. The league table of FTSE100 companies showed a rise in value of 300% in five years, taking this year’s combined figure for gifts in kind to £165.6m.

This huge leap came as no surprise to us. We’ve seen a year on year increase in donations since operations began in 1997: the total In Kind Direct has been donated currently stands at almost £50 million in value and is rising. In 2004 the value of goods distributed to the community rose by 49% to £9 million. 

Here are some of the reasons our donors say they give to In Kind Direct:

• the satisfaction of knowing their donation is helping good causes

• making savings in warehouse space, disposal costs and staff time

• it helps meet environmental goals

• In Kind Direct’s procedures mean their goods will not end up on market stalls

• a donation to In Kind Direct helps hundreds of charities

• staff want to see surplus going to people in need rather than to the dump

• good PR through increased community involvement

• In Kind Direct reaches the types of charities they want to help

• customers will like the creative solution to surplus

• a single fax to In Kind Direct takes all the surplus off their hands

• In Kind Direct provides regular reports on where their goods have gone

• In Kind Direct’s service is quick, easy and professional

• We offer a business service providing a secure distribution channel for stock that may not be attractive to jobbers, such as incomplete packs, damaged boxes and pre-customised products

• There are administrative cost-savings for using In Kind Direct to manage the distribution, tracking and recording of goods delivered to charities and the people they help

• For many parts of the country we have raised funding which would enable charities nominated by your employees (that might otherwise not be supported) to join our network and receive their first £1000 of goods free in their first year

• Working with In Kind Direct enables companies to help a much broader spread of charities across the UK in addition to pure cash-based donations - increasing the impact of charitable activity