One person’s junk is another’s treasure.
With a nod to that adage, Talbert House is launching a new fundraising effort that it hopes will translate treasure into needed funds for its many programs that bring health and productivity to Cincinnati citizens.
Donations2Dollars, a business that helps non-profits organize and capitalize on a donated items drive, is partnering with Talbert House to raise money for the organization. “The concept is so simple,” says Paula Boggs Muething, Talbert House board member. “Individuals can donate items of value that they are no longer using. These items will be purchased by someone else, resulting in a financial contribution to a great cause.”
Donations2Dollars sets up a process of receiving and managing private donations for an organization. Then it uses online auctions like eBay to sell the inventory. “We don’t get hired to raise money,” says Marc Fisher, founder of Donations2Dollars. “Our goal is to help [a nonprofit] raise money--to take things that are sitting around a house or old business inventory and find value in them that can help support an organization.”
Instead of hitting donors’ pocketbooks, an organization is offering supporters another option: donate an item instead.
Talbert House donations managed by Donations2Dollars will support the agency’s Fatherhood Project, which helps strengthen a dad’s involvement with his children. Talbert House is committed to this project for at least a year, says Muething.
“The Fatherhood Project received a grant through the Talbert House Foundation to fund a position designated to the Donations2Dollars program for one year, using a volunteer from the Church of the Brethren. “
Fisher, a Cincinnati businessman and philanthropist, sees the value of this new fundraising concept in a changing economy. These days, “nonprofits need to be more creative in finding opportunities to fund their programs.” Talbert House agrees and sees this kind of fundraising as a complement to its other social enterprises that help fund its programs, including House Café and Catering, the Talbert House Drug Lab and the Institute for Training and Development.
Do Good:
• Learn: about Donations2Dollars and this new concept of turning donated items into funds for your nonprofit, at
www.donations2dollars.com
• Support: the
Talbert House, a community-wide nonprofit network of social services with 36 community corrections, mental health and substance abuse programs focusing on prevention, assessment, treatment and social reintegration of men, women and children.
By Becky Johnson
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