like the lyrics of that song, does anyone who shops in your consignment or resale shop really know the
GOOD YOUR SHOP DOES?
Your shop may or may not be a not-for-profit, but chances are almost 100% that you do, in various ways, support local and/or wider-spread charities. Good for you! Now make sure that your marketplace knows that you do good. Maybe your business does some of these:
- donating unsolds or NTYs for use by those less fortunate through clothing pantries, homeless shelters, and church bazaars.
- outfitting emergency cases (We always worked with the women’s shelter by forgoing any profit on their purchases.)
- giving your time or space (Do you sell poinsettias for a charitable group? Collect canned food for the pantry?)
- having fund-raising sales in your parking lot…and helping publicize the same.
- donating a percentage of sales during events to one or more charities Like here…
- donating a nickel or a dime to charity when a customer doesn’t need a bag for her/his purchase
- helping out with a charity’s rummage sale or loaning them racks, hangers, tags, bags
- maintaining consignment accounts for specific charitable groups.
How you can tell them
- Do you post thank-you notes from your charities on your shop community bulletin board?
- Add photos of donations: a pick-up truck full of furniture? A giant mock check illustrating the money you raised during your last bag sale? to your newsletters, entry foyer?
- Do you send out press releases with imaginative photos thanking the charities for using your business to reach the community?
- Newsletter, Facebook, or Twitter your charitable donations?
- Have you ever done a window full of donated cleaning supplies for the emergency housing charity, or piled up those cans collected for the food pantry?
- Do you have and keep current a list and short summary of the charities you support on your web site? Like this one: JustFab?
- Do you feature blog entries about how you give back to your community? Like this one or a MOMS Club?
Not completely sure which charities to help? Have a vote for which charities your shop will support in the coming month, quarter, or year!
Not sure how you can help? Ask the charities themselves. You might be surprised!
Don’t be ridiculously shy. Bragging is encouraged.
Your business is doing good for your community, and people want to shop where they feel that goodness. Think of it this way: You can even use your charitable donations as both a way to get people more involved in your shop, and get them more aware of the needs in your community.
Auntie Kate The Resale Expert 
[…] All of this not your bag; you do plenty already? Terrific! Does your community KNOW that? […]
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[…] a fact of life.) I’ve tried to encourage these reticent entrepreneurs. Even given them reasons to put themselves forth. Yet still there’s some puritanical streak in […]
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[…] Kate’s opinion on this specific […]
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Thanks for the list of ideas (and all of your ideas in your manual too)! We are opening a resale store soon and our intention is to help several charities on a continual basis (although we are for-profit). I will be giving gift vouchers for the charities to hand out to their clients, to the charity of my donators’ choice. Most people are happy to get rid of their stuff but sometimes we all need a reason to give to a particular place. So, if my friend has a passion for the women’s shelter, she can know that her donation to me will directly help that shelter…..without piling a lot of stuff on their doorstep. I see it as a win/win/win all around!
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Thanks, Kindra, for your comment. Of all the things all resale shops overlook, maintaining consignment accounts for specific charities is, I think, the BIGGEST oversight.
An account in the name of a local charity does so much good (as you say, win/win/win!):
* The charity, if something valuable is received as a donation, can consign it if the income would be more useful to them;
* They can direct their supporters to consign with you, under the charity’s account;
* People who are more attuned to recycling than reselling, can donate items through your shop into their chosen charity’s account and feel good about it;
* Shoppers who wish to lend a supporting hand can look for the charity’s consignment number (or, if you are truly a Savvy Shopkeeper, you can create and use hangtags!);
* It’s a public-relation DREAM.
To all you charities, non-profit resale shops, NFP thrifts out there: Look into a partnership with several different consignment shops in your area. To all consignment shops: Be pro-active in this… and be patient, non-profits have chains of command/responsibility that your business probably is not used to dealing with. And you buy-outright places? What better promo could you have (PR, event, social-media-wise) than a “Sell it for Charity X” event… where all or half or whatever %age the seller selects, goes in a jar for that charity?
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Here’s one example of letting your shopping public know the good your shop does. Here, a favorite NFP shop of mine lets their community know that they are helping support a community project: http://www.wiscnews.com/bdc/business/article_a518b41a-e88b-11df-a4d2-001cc4c002e0.html
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[…] (Bonus Tip: Ask your clients if they have wrapping paper they’d like to recycle…that is, bring in to you so you can put it to good use as above! Any inappropriate designs or colors could be donated to a kids’ program for arts and crafts use. Remember the reasons I gave to BRAG about this shop-supported charitable donation!) […]
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Such great advice, as always! I especially like the reminder on the jar of nickels or dimes if you don’t need a bag. That’s a great way to make people feel like they’re helping out, which I think can be more motivating than just giving them a 10 cent discount.
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[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kate Holmes, Ron Funnell. Ron Funnell said: RT @2Good2BThrew: Do they know the good your #consignment, resale, or thrift shop does in yr community? http://wp.me/p4qZP-PV […]
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