Nonprofit FAQs

Fundraising is hard. Charitable contributions are on the decline across the board, and nonprofits are looking for new revenue streams every day. Board members pressure Executive Directors, and Executive Directors pressure the Development/Advancement Team. With the fast-evolving landscape of philanthropy changing every day, nonprofits are choosing an “all of the above” approach to fundraising. Gold 4 Good is a service that builds on your fundraising team’s daily work and increases contributed revenue so you can create more of the impact your mission demands.

Your nonprofit will receive a check for approximately 80% of market (spot) value of the jewelry donated, once processing and refining charges are taken into consideration. Fair market value is calculated as the amount paid by an estate buyer or the recycled value of the materials in the jewelry. In almost all cases, this exceeds the amount a donor would receive directly from a commercial buyer, making Gold 4 Good the smart and feel-good choice for your donors.

Yes. The nonprofits participating in car donation programs never receive the cars…they just receive the checks. Third parties process the cars for maximum value for the nonprofit. Gold 4 Good is just like that. We make it easy for the nonprofits.

Additionally, car donation programs are targeted at an extremely small portion of a donor base, with values often as low as $1000 after expensive processing costs. Roughly half of all donors have unwanted jewelry, and the estimated jewelry donation is $500. With a much larger donor base, Gold 4 Good actually makes more sense than a car donation program.

To maximize the impact of Gold 4 Good, it is recommended that nonprofits make it easy for donors to make jewelry donations.

We recommend including a link to Gold 4 Good on your donation page, your “Get Involved” page, or newsletter. We can also send you materials to use in your campaign or event.

Once your donor sees this, they can use our simple donor form and designate your nonprofit as the recipient of their donated jewelry.

Gold 4 Good can help by listing your nonprofit as part of the “Preferred Nonprofit” drop-down list and featuring your logo on the donor page for no cost to your organization. It’s completely free.

Also, the majority of individual donations by value come from a minority of a donor base. Similarly, you should see the majority of your Gold 4 Good donations coming from your donors with the greatest capacity, such as board members. So it's valuable to consider how to get your board involved through Gold 4 Good.

Our team includes experienced nonprofit professionals and legal experts to make sure that Gold 4 Good has donor and nonprofit interests first. As a registered Public Benefit Corporation, we have a mission to turn unwanted jewelry into social impact. Other famous public benefit corporations are Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, Allbirds, Warby Parker, Cotopaxi, Toms, and The Body Shop. Gold 4 Good aims to keep our reputation as good as our peers.

The average estimated donation is $500. Of course, like with everything, some donations will be substantially higher than others. However, the average one-time nonprofit donation is around $125, so Gold 4 Good represents a significant opportunity for a much larger gift than usual. And the best part is that Gold 4 Good donors are usually regular donors to your nonprofit already.

Yes. Other than help your donors learn about Gold 4 Good, your nonprofit does nothing but cash the check. We even send a copy of the check with donation information to the donor so that they have a record of the donation.

Our refiner tests, weighs, and processes the donation. Once the process is complete, they calculate the value of the gold or platinum content of the donated metals based on the daily price (spot price).

For donations over $250, nonprofits are expected to send a receipt to donors should the donor request one. We provide all donors a copy of their check and the relevant donation information that they can keep for their records. Should the donor request a donation receipt, your nonprofit should send one, but this will most likely only be the case for the minority of donors that choose to itemize their deductions on their tax return (rather than take the standard deduction). Donors should consult with their accountant for their particular circumstance.

Gold 4 Good donations to your nonprofit are considered  regular contributed revenue. Gold 4 Good is a service provider that receives unwanted jewelry and recycles it for the donor, then issues the maximum reasonable amount to the nonprofit of their choice on their behalf.

Beyond including a link on your donation page or “Get Involved” page, nonprofits can host virtual jewelry drives where donors sign up for their prepaid Gold 4 Good shipping labels with your nonprofit as the beneficiary. This can be included as part of a seasonal year-end campaign, a campaign during slow months like January, a run-up to a big gala, or part of smaller intimate open house, meet-and-greet, or morning coffee event. It’s also great for Giving Tuesday, back-to-school drives, flash drives, or urgent relief efforts.

If you have another idea, we’d love to hear it! Send us an email at nonprofits@gold4good.org and we can schedule a call!

Preferred Nonprofits are our select group of partners that have chosen to include Gold 4 Good as part of their fundraising mix. Each metropolitan area is currently limited to 40 preferred nonprofits to avoid overexposure of this new platform. The first 40 organizations in each area to be approved are selected based on their enthusiasm for Gold 4 Good as a donor solution. Preferred Nonprofits are pre-loaded into a dropdown menu on our donor form for maximum exposure and also receive a logo on our donor page to highlight their work at the moment when the donor selects the recipient of their donation. Being a Preferred Nonprofit is the best choice to make the most of Gold 4 Good.

Our team has favorite nonprofits of our own. We want to help them by highlighting them as Suggested Nonprofits, much like our Preferred Nonprofits are highlighted. Having Suggested Nonprofits is just our way of helping the causes that mean the most to us!

Fill out the nonprofit application on the Nonprofits section of our website. If approved, your nonprofit will receive all the benefits of being a Preferred Nonprofit (see above) for no cost.

With only 40 spots available per metropolitan area, we want to make sure that Gold 4 Good only partners with nonprofits that will take full advantage of the service that Gold 4 Good provides to donors.

That depends. It is estimated that 67% of all nonprofit donor bases have unwanted jewelry at home, so the probability that your nonprofit can benefit from Gold 4 Good is very high. Utilization of Gold 4 Good among your donor base will vary based on donor demographics and the ease with which your donors learn about Gold 4 Good’s benefits to you.

Please keep in mind that the most likely source for Gold 4 Good revenue for your nonprofit will come from your highest tier of donors and/or board members.

If 5% of your donor base makes a donation through Gold 4 Good each year, and the average donation is approximately $500, the nonprofit with a donor base of 1000 will likely receive $25,000 per year from Gold for Good. This number will vary based on size of donor base and demographics, of course.

Gold 4 Good is not intended to be a service that replaces cash donations, but enhances them as a complementary, low-effort add-on to your fundraising mix.

Yes! Mix it up! Feel free to keep it lighthearted. Gold 4 Good is perfect as a fun way to donate. Gamify your next campaign (Who can donate the most jewelry?). Have board members compete. Allow highly engaged volunteers to host Gold 4 Good events where people sign up to donate right from their phone. Have a flash drive on Giving Tuesday! Have people donate via Gold 4 Good for their birthdays! Gold 4 Good welcomes great ideas. You can be the expert!

We recommend considering Gold 4 Good as part of a year-end campaign, a post-Black Friday Giving Tuesday campaign, or even a campaign in January, when the donations tend to slow down. “Spring Cleaning” is a great theme for a Gold 4 Good campaign!

Not at all. Again, every responsible non-profit fundraising strategy employs an all-of-the-above methodology right now, and Gold 4 Good is just a fun, unique and memorable offering for your donors.