For customers, the excitement of shopping in a thrift store lies in the find: a brand-new pair of boots; a pair of roller skates with loads of life left in them; a sleek formal dress, perfect for homecoming.
But for thousands of people in northern Michigan, the donations of clothing, toys, furniture, seasonal items and more that come in through drive-through drop-offs at Goodwill Northern Michigan stores mean much more.
The donated items turn into revenue that helps over 1,000 people experiencing homelessness to access shelter and housing each year. They keep our Food Rescue trucks on the road, delivering 8,000 pounds of nutritious food every day to food pantries and community meal sites—enough to make 6,500 meals. Plus, they provide employment for more than 200 people as well as $500,000 a year in store vouchers so that people in crisis can select needed items from our stores.
“There is always a need for more donations,” said Joshua Olds, director of donated goods for Goodwill Northern Michigan. “The way our model works is that we sell those items through our stores to generate revenue to fund programs that help people in our communities—programs like Food Rescue, and our homeless and housing programs like the Goodwill Inn emergency homeless shelter, our Patriot Place shelter for veterans, Street Outreach, and Housing with Supports.
“Each of these programs is enabled by thrift store revenue,” Olds said. “The more people donate goods, the more we can do for our communities.”
Hidden Treasures Strengthen Support
Ask Olds which donated items have taken staff by surprise and he’ll tell you about the time someone donated a vintage Rolex watch.
“Our store employees put out hundreds, if not thousands, of items every single day in our stores, and there’s this constant flow of one-off, unique items that pop in through donations,” Olds said. “We really have to keep an eye out for things that hold significant value. There was a famous painting that turned up at one of our donation sites, and we were able to sell it online for thousands of dollars. It’s exciting when someone says, ‘We’ve found something interesting,’ and we do a little research, and suddenly, we know we’ve got something special.”
The thrill of the sale is as exciting for employees as the thrill of the hunt is for shoppers—and it’s all for a good cause. “We make a commitment to the donor that we’re going to get the most value from each item that is donated,” Olds said. “The many outlets we have for selling donated goods helps ensure we’re supporting our programs as best as we can to maximize the community services we provide[JW1] .”
There are nine Goodwill Northern Michigan thrift stores and donation centers, from Grayling to Cheboygan and Traverse City to Alpena, and each market is unique. Plus, Goodwill Northern Michigan recently opened an “Up North” outlet where goods are sold by the pound, located behind the Traverse City store on South Airport Road. Fans call this store “The Bins,” a nod to the four-foot-square bright, blue-wheeled containers that rotate in and out of the outlet every 20 minutes or so.
“These bins provide by-the-pound access for our thriftiest shoppers,” Olds said. “Over 3,500 pounds of used goods move through the outlet each day, offering our shoppers tremendous savings on so many great items.”
There’s also an ecommerce site where higher-value items, like the vintage Rolex and famous painting, are sold. There, they have a wider audience and can command a higher price point than the retail stores could support.
Often, these donations bring in sales from outside northern Michigan—and that revenue supports the northern Michigan community. For instance, a 1964 Bob Dylan poster once came in through Goodwill Northern Michigan’s Gaylord store. Later, a collector from another state purchased it on the online thrift store, shopgoodwill.com, for $8,889! “Donations like this are rare, but when they arrive, they make a huge difference to our housing and food community programs,” Olds said.
Last year, Goodwill Northern Michigan diverted 5 million pounds of textiles and housewares from northern Michigan landfills. When items cannot be sold, the organization is careful to maximize the value of every donation, separating elements that can be recycled, like wiring, or salvaged, like metal, preventing them from being discarded as waste. Goodwill Northern Michigan also sells leftover textiles for salvage.
A Modern Operation
The donation process hasn’t changed much over the years: residents still pull up to a Goodwill Northern Michigan donation center, unload things they no longer need with help from donation door attendants and receive a 10% off coupon good in any Goodwill Northern Michigan thrift store, plus a form to keep track of their tax-deductible donations. However, the way in which goods are sold, from in-store to online to the recycling market, has transformed Goodwill Northern Michigan’s donated goods operations.
Recently, Olds traveled to Washington, D.C., to learn more about how the donated goods process works in other Goodwill organizations.
Community Partnerships Make a Difference
Goodwill Northern Michigan’s Good Partner Vouchers program allows neighbors facing emergencies to select needed items like clothing and housewares from GWNMI’s stores.
“Over 50 organizations across our 19-county region receive $500,000 worth of Good Partner vouchers each year,” Olds said. “Our partners issue the vouchers to their clients to help them through emergencies. With these vouchers, recipients can shop for needed items, selecting the size that fits and the color they want. After a fire, for instance, a family can replace what was lost, using those vouchers for clothes and housewares at any of our nine locations.”
Find Out More
Goodwill Northern Michigan relies on the generosity and support of northern Michigan residents to make a meaningful impact in our communities. For more information on how to donate goods, what’s needed and what to keep in mind, visit the Goodwill Northern Michigan website.