How to Donate a Cell Phone to Benefit a Domestic Violence Shelter
What may seem to you to simply be an old cell phone can to another person be a lifeline. Garnering proceeds from recycled cell phones, domestic violence organizations raise money by participating in the cell phone recycling process and using the proceeds to fund the work of their organizations. Become a part of this process by donating your used cell phones rather than tossing them in the trash.
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Instructions
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Prepare Your Cell Phone
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Deactivate the service on your phone. Organizations will not reimburse you for any service charges incurred during the shipping and recycling process.
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Clear data from your cell phone. Although personal data will be cleared from your phone during the refurbishment or destruction process, you may wish to reset your phone to factory settings before donating it. Generally, memory can be erased through the menu bar on your cell phone; otherwise, reference your user manual or contact the manufacturer for specific instructions to erase memory.
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Determine what rules your local waste management has regarding chargers and bases. Organizations are generally interested only in the cell phone and the battery, so you will be responsible for discarding other accessories, including car chargers, charger bases, ear pieces and transformers.
Donate Your Cell Phone
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Select an organization to donate to. Some organizations host cell phone drives, during which they collect donations of cell phones. These will be announced via fliers, radio announcement and in newspapers to alert the community to the opportunity to donate. Other organizations partner with larger organizations, for example, Shelter Alliance, to facilitate the process. With Shelter Alliance, a donation of 10 phones or more will send the money to a local charity in your area. Otherwise, funding will be dispersed as needed.
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Package your phone to send for donation. Local cell phone drives may accept a hand delivery, but larger organizations will require you ship your cell phone to them. ReCellular provides free shipping for donations of 100 cell phones or greater; Shelter Alliance provides a shipping label for donations of one to nine phones and a shipping kit for donations of 10 or more phones. Be sure to package your phone tightly and remember to include your battery.
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Download a copy of your receipt and save for tax deductions at the end of the year.
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Tips & Warnings
If you are a member of a domestic violence organization, you can join the organizations mentioned to participate in the program, receive donations and raise funds for your cause.
Verify the authenticity of an organization before contributing. Unfortunately, fraudulent organizations sometimes pocket money for their own uses rather than using it to benefit the cause they claim to support. You can contact your charity of choice to find out if it is currently collecting cell phones.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit cell phone image by Alexey Klementiev from Fotolia.com
