When you shop and donate at one of Goodwill of Central & Southern Indiana’s 75+ retail locations, the proceeds generated support Hoosiers right here in our communities, but have you ever wondered how this process works?

First, Hoosiers donate gently used items. Goodwill accepts a wide variety of items from cookware to clothes to furniture. Donors may request a receipt for their donation to itemize donations at tax time. As a non-profit organization, donations to Goodwill are tax deductible.  

Next, our Goodwill retail employees bring the donation into the store. After the donation’s short ride on the conveyor belt, the product is labeled with the appropriate tag and priced based on a pricing guide used by every central and southern Indiana store. The item is placed on a rack and now it is almost ready for customers.

A retail employee will take that rack of clothes or other donation items onto the sales floor and place them in their correct location. The donated item is now ready for customers.  

Our customers are able to look, touch, and even test products in the store. Once you’re done, head to the front to pay for your treasures. You will be offered the chance to “round up” and send the leftover change from your purchase to further help fund Goodwill’s education, employment, and health programs right here in central and southern Indiana.

If your donations are not purchased after six weeks in our traditional retail stores, they will be sent to our outlet locations, where donations are sold by the pound. Finally, if your donation is not purchased at one of our outlets, it will be recycled through one of our partners, like the Dell Reconnect program, or sold on the secondary market. Textiles, for example, are sold in bales, where they are later shredded and used for stuffing furniture and insulation. 

You may think our story ends there, but no! The money generated from these operations funds the mission programs and services that Goodwill offers to the thousands of Hoosiers we employ, educate and serve each day. Your purchase may help a single parent earn their high school diploma, pair a nurse with first-time parents for ongoing support, or employ persons with job barriers, like a disability or involvement with the criminal justice system. 

This wouldn’t be possible without the people who shop, donate and give financially to Goodwill, so thank you! Visit goodwillindy.org to learn more.