Ringing in the New Year (Literally)
It’s too late to make donations good for deduction for this coming April, but its the perfect time to get 2012 off to an organized start. Cell phone and ink cartridge donations programs are popular for groups to mount. However, you cannot always be sure the group is getting the maximum benefit. Different cell phone recyclers offer differing amounts for the same phone in the same condition, but not all of them participate in mass donation programs. They will credit organizations that collect phones and send them in a shipment, but might not credit random individual cell donations to a charity that has not registered.
An alternative is to shop around yourself and sell mobile phones that are collecting dust and lint in your drawer at a competitive rate to a recycler, and then in turn give the proceeds to the group of your choice once the check arrives. Sellmymobile.com has a list of various phone models and the going rate at a variety of recyclers. The site does not purchase cellphones, but gathers the reported data in one place. Once a match is made, you send the phone to the selected company.
When you receive your check, you can personally donate the funds to your group of choice. Since you shopped around, the rate might be higher than the funds realized by a group in a dedicated cell phone program. The other benefit is that a charity need not be registered with a recycler to receive a benefit. Granted, a publicized collection campaign does drive donations when a group mount ones, but shopping around yourself when you clean out your drawer and spreading the word to your individual network creates initiative. Oh, and of course – you divest of the clutter in your drawer. You can’t save every one for a 2037 Antique Roadshow episode.
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