Host a drive for the holidays!

The holidays are approaching fast and we’re already getting a lot of requests for donating items or hosting drives to help those in need across metro Atlanta. Thank you for thinking of our neighbors and looking for unique and creative ways to help.

Below we’ve laid out a step-by-step guideline and best practices to make your drive a big success.

💥 Decide what kind of impact you want to make.

Think of who and how you want to help your community. For example, maybe you want to collect school supplies to support students returning to school in the fall, or maybe you’d like to support new mothers in need? There are a lot of impact areas where your network of friends, family and colleagues can help with! For a great list, check out the filter on our volunteer portal to find impact areas and organizations working to address them.

🔎 Identify a partner nonprofit to receive the donations.

Do a little research (we have a fantastic list of vetted nonprofit partner organizations you can browse) and find an organization that is working to solve the same community issues you want to make impact in with your drive.

⚙️ Work out the logistics.

Reach out to the partner, and find out if they’re up for receiving donations from your drive. You’ll want to get their specific request list of items, and find out when they need the supplies by. For example – did you know that the best time to deliver school supply donations is in early July? That gives the nonprofit the time to distribute them, before schools starts. Talk to the nonprofit partner about best times and dates for you to deliver, how the supplies should be packaged, and what items should not be avoided.

*NOTE: If you're doing a drive for holiday gifts, be sure not to collect wrapped gifts, unless the organization has requested this. Most organizations prefer for the parents or gift-giver to be able to wrap + give the gift directly to the recipient - and we totally agree with this!

⏳ Choose a timeframe.

Typically, 2 weeks is the ideal timeframe for a supply drive – meaning, the targeted participants have 2 weeks to purchase or find the supplies and deliver them to the collection site. Again, don’t forget to take into account the time when the nonprofit needs the supplies, and the time it’ll take you to inventorize and deliver the supplies – give yourself about a week to do that.

📣 Publicize the drive.

Sharing on social media and within group chats is the easiest and fastest way to spread the word. You can also create flyers with ALL information (supply lists, collection dates + locations, who to email with questions) and get these out to your group via email campaigns, passing them out at existing events like all-staff meetings or placing them in common areas like elevators and cafes. Asking group leadership to introduce the drive to the group can go a long way, too!

🗑️ Place collection bins out.

These should be in common areas, where your group will already be going – hallways and elevator banks are ideal. This also means your participants will walk by them frequently and be reminded.

🚀 Continue promoting!

Continuously remind your participants throughout the drive window, to participate. Remind them of the deadline, any incentives and the meaningful impact they are making!

📊 Take inventory.

After the deadline for donations has passed, count up the supplies and consolidate them into properly sized packaging. Give the nonprofit partner a heads up of the results via email, before delivering them.

🚚 Deliver!

Pack up the car and bring the donations to the nonprofit partner, at the previously arranged date + time!

Bonus tips and suggestions for an extra-awesome drive:

• Make it competitive! Have different teams, departments or subgroups have their own collection bins – who’s will be the fullest, the fastest?

• Offer incentives for all participants – a social media badge or even a sticker gives your participants a way to feel recognized as well as spread the word to others for you.

• Take pictures, post and tag!