What Does “In-Kind” Mean?

If you’ve been to the Zealous Good website before, you’ve likely seen the term “in-kind donations” a lot. So, what does in-kind mean? An in-kind donation is one in which needed goods or services are given to a charity instead of giving money that can used to purchase these goods or services. You can learn more about what in-kind donations are and how they can impact charities and donors by reading this blog post. In-kind donations are great ways to support charities by giving them your unused goods or provide them with a valuable service! Here are three types of in-kind donations that can be beneficial to a charity.

Goods Specifically Needed by the Charity: The goods that you can donate in-kind could be ones that will be used directly in an organization’s programs or used by their staff. These can include computers, toys, office supplies, furniture, clothing, and many other types of goods. Businesses can donate in-kind to charities by offering excess inventory or old office supplies. A restaurant could even donate food. Charities with frequent in-kind needs will often keep a wish list of the types of goods they need.

Silent Auction Items: These are in-kind donations that charities can auction off at a fundraising event to raise money for their programs. If they are goods they will be in new condition and unique. However, unique experiences – such as tickets to a sporting event, a certificate for a wine tasting, a gift certificate to a nice restaurant, or even a vacation or cruise – are sometimes the best auction items. If a local charity is having a fundraiser soon, reach out to see if there are any auction items you can provide.

Services: In-kind donations of services are ones that would directly benefit the charity, ones they would normally have to pay for. People with skills that are directly beneficial to charities, especially, should consider donating their time and helping out. This might include a web developer building a website for a charity, a carpenter making or repairing something for a charity, or a lawyer providing legal advice for a charity. The types of services for which a charity is looking may be on their wish list but you can often directly ask them what they could currently use help with.

If you want to donate in-kind to a local Chicago charity you can easily use Zealous Good. You can submit your in-kind donations and receive requests from charities that are in need of those types of goods or services!