Donate Used Computers to Charity

There are many reasons to donate excess computers to charity. The most obvious is, of course, meeting the needs of a charity: providing them the technology to do their work more efficiently and the ability to spend their funds on other things. Another is the benefit to the environment of providing the computer to someone who can use it rather than sending it to a landfill. There may be some tax benefits as well. But, what seems like a noble act, donating computers to those in need, is not as straightforward as you would expect. The direct donation of used computers can cause problems for you and the charity.

• Gift Results in Expenses for the Charity Donations of used computer equipment can sometimes turn into a net loss for the charity. If the computer is unusable the charity then becomes responsible for the costs of its disposal. If all the necessary peripherals: mouse, monitor, cables, keyboard, manuals, software, etc., are not included with your donation the charity has to purchase them. The individual purchase of these accessories may cost more than a brand new computer. And the charity will need technical expertise to know which mouse will work with the three-year old system being donated, which monitor with the video card. And since the computer is likely past any warranty there will be no free tech support. Some charities have stopped accepting computer donations because it became cost-prohibitive.


• Limited Charitable Choices With many charitable organizations no longer taking computer donations your company's choices for where to donate are limited. You may not be able to support your favorite causes with a donation.


• Problems for You Used computers often contain sensitive information that must be removed before the computers can be securely donated. Hard drives must be erased and basic erasure procedures are not enough to completely wipe sensitive data from the drive. Specialized procedures must be followed to ensure the data is completely irretrievable. A 2003 study by two MIT graduate students found that of the 168 hard drives they purchased from eBay and other computer resalers 69 of them had recoverable files and 49 had vital personal information on them. Ensuring that your company's sensitive data is not compromised takes your time and your money.


• More Things to Take Up Your Time In addition to deleting all necessary information from your used computers, cataloging, packing, and delivering the computers to the charitable organization takes time from other company concerns. Documentation of the transfer of all assets to the charity requires more time.


• The Solution Andover can simplify your computer donation efforts and solve the problems described above by buying the technology from your company, selling it at auction, and returning the proceeds to you for charitable donation. Andover will come to your site, inventory, pack, and ship all surplus technology including desktop, laptops, servers, phones, racks, networking equipment, and POS equipment. Andover will perform all necessary data destruction and provide certified documentation to your company. Your company may then donate the proceeds with unlimited charitable choices and the knowledge that a monetary donation costs the charity nothing.

If you would like to donate your computers directly to a charity here are some helpful links:

Youth for Technology
National Christina Foundation
Computer for Schools
Computer Recycling Center

If you would like to sell your used computers through Andover and donate the proceeds, please contact us via phone, email, or by using the form below.

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Email:
liquidation
@andovercg.com