I came across a blog post on Recyclingforcharities.com while doing some research as to how big companies are doing their part to make the world a better place by making an effort to reduce electronic waste. In this particular post, Kodak recently partnered up with Recycling For Charities in a joint effort to reduce electronic waste.
From the post, Kodak will be incorporating the Recycling for Charities logo on the front of their latest Kodak EashShare M320 digital camera. Kodak did not stop there, going the extra mile and making it extremely easy for consumers to do their part. Upon opening the package upon purchase, there is a paid postage label with 3 easy steps to send in their old electronics. The 3 steps are to first visit www.recyclingforcharities.com, submit your info, package your old camera/cell phone, and include your oder # so that your benefiting charity can benefit. Real easy.
Considering that the Kodak M320 digital camera is to be sold at Wal-Mart and Sam’s clubs, people have no excuse not to do their part. It does not cost them anything other than their time filling out the info and packaging their old electronics and dropping it in the mail.
Now how could this be better? This is great and all but luckily, there is always room for improvement. We may have a solution that can greatly enhance what Recycling for Charities does.
First off, a little background that I came across about Recycling for Charities. They are the only 501 (c)(3) non-profit that focuses on recycling cell phones. From reading their questions section, it is my understanding that they will make a donation on your part to the charity of your choice. However, I was unable to come across any material stating how that amount is calculated. I would assume its a flat rate for certain types of phones, i.e. smart phones compared to non-smart phones and the same for the other electronics they collect.
Having given donations before to non-profits, I imagine a tax deductible receipt is given to the donor to fill in the value. This is mentioned but I wonder if an amount is included in that receipt or if its up to the donor to fill in. If I had an old cell phone to donate, I would surely go through the easy process and find out but unfortunately I do not. One flaw that I see here is the amount inputted by the donor on their taxes and the amount actually donated to the charity of their choice. The two goals I see in this whole process are first to ensure the proper disposal of old electronics and raise the most money for charities through this initiative.
What if there was a way that, the donor could instantly see the value of their donation, allocate those funds to a charity of their choice ( or even split it amongst various organizations), get a more accurate tax deductible receipt and Recycling for Charities would not have to put any money out of pocket to make a donation to a charity for the old cell phones donated?
That would be great wouldn’t it?
Well let me tell you a bit about a service we offer. We have the technology to brand our cell phone calculator for any non-profit, company or organization to implement on their site for donors to do just that.
It is an extremely simple process and would take very little effort for a non-profit, company or organization to implement. We would brand our calculator to match the sites format and handle the whole entire pricing process. Donors would input their phones, get a value, determine what charity to donate to, or divvy it up amongst several if its high value phone, and viola it gets processed. Old cell phones with value are re-purposed and more funds are raised for charities and everyone is happy. For those phones that have no value because of their age, condition or etc. they get re-directed towards the proper recycling channels. Even if the phones have no value but still work, we can re-route those to organizations that provide phones to battered women or for elderly people to make emergency calls, thats why we call it re-purposing, recycling is the last resort.
The major benefits of this are that charities can get even more money from something they are currently participating in and donors can get a more accurate amount for their donations based on the market value of their phones. Most importantly, Recycling for Charities would not have to put any money up front because we as a company would buy the phones of value and cut a check to the charity designated to receive the donation. That sounds like a win-win for everyone involved and its entirely streamlined.
If anyone from Recycling for Charities reads this, please contact us at your convenience. If not, we will be contacting you in time to discuss this in the future. It appears that using our custom calculator application can greatly enhance your mission together. Most importantly, this does not cost a single penny for anyone to implement our cell phone calculator onto their branded site. Its a way of working together on spreading the message of the importance to do the right thing with your old cell phone and raise money for a great cause.
