12 NO COST Giving Tuesday Ideas to Help Those in Need

There are many no-cost ways that you can donate for GivingTuesday or ANY time of the year to help those in need without doing an online fundraising campaign or buying anything. It can be hard to pledge funds when you are trying to pay bills or save up to buy your kids presents for the holidays.

Fortunately, there are many other rewarding ways to give to others that won’t break the bank! Giving to others can also benefit YOU by motivating you to clean your house, learn a new skill, or teach your kids a valuable lesson.

While the ideas below are meant to get you ready for Giving Tuesday, keep in mind that you don’t need to give in to the peer pressure of The National Day of Giving! You can give back at any time of the year!

1) Donate Surveys 

Take short surveys from the comfort of your own home to donate to charity. You can join SurveyMonkey, choose a supported charity, and answer some short surveys. Once the survey is completed, SurveyMonkey donates $0.50 to the charity. Seems like a small amount, but it accumulates over time.

In SurveyMonkey, choose a supported charity from over 60 options and answer some short surveys. Once the survey is completed, SurveyMonkey donates $0.50 to the charity. It seems like a small amount, but it accumulates over time.

2) Donate Goods

De-clutter your house. As they say, one person’s trash is another person’s treasure! Not only will this help people in need, having less stuff laying around can help make you less stressed.

Goodwill Industries International is a nationwide organization that sells your stuff. You can also shop at their retail stores. Proceeds help people train for jobs and gain employment. You can also receive a receipt for tax deductions.

Everyone’s favorite girl, Oprah, also has a good list of where you can donate almost anything!

3) Donate Clothes

Cleaning out your closet is another great way to gear up for Giving Tuesday or help those in need other times of the year. A great rule of thumb is that if you haven’t worn it in one year, it is time to ditch it! If you need some motivation to get started, The Spruce has a great guide on how to tackle this project!

The Simple Dwellers also has some great tips on how to minimize your wardrobe and maintain it. Weed out what you don’t wear and give it to someone who can appreciate it!

Here are four easy ways you can donate your clothes:

• Drop off in a Planet Aid bin. Request a receipt online.
• Drop donations off at a Goodwill Donation Center.
• Request pick up from Purple Heart GreenDrop.
• Request pick up from Lupus Foundation of America.

**ADDED BONUS: Having a more orderly closet can also reduce stress and save time when you are getting ready! According to Psychology Today, “clutter is one of the easiest life stressors to fix”!

4) Donate Food 

I bet that if you go through your cabinets, you’ll find a few things that got cast aside as epic shopping fails. I always try to give my kids some variety in after-school snacks, especially healthy variety, but sometimes those all-natural blueberry oat bars don’t go over too well. However, your local food bank or homeless shelter would be more than happy to have them!

Look through your cabinets and pantry for packaged cookies, snack bars, and other dry and canned goods that you don’t think you’ll ever use. You may also have some pet food or treats that your fussy pet did not enjoy that you can drop off at a pet rescue organization. You can also receive a receipt for tax deductions.

5) Donate Shoes

Soles4Souls is a great online fundraising program that doesn’t involve spending money. Collect all your old shoes (I rack up quite a bit of sneakers myself), drop them off at a convenient location, and create economic opportunities for others. If you have less than 15 pairs of shoes, Zappos for Good will even ship them for free! And, this organization also provides receipts for tax deductions.

It does not matter whether your shoes are in good condition or not….it doesn’t even matter if you have two matching shoes to donate!  Shoes in good condition will be given to people that need them. Shoes that are not wearable are used for Soles 4 Souls Micro-Enterprise Program to be reconditioned and sold locally or they may be sent to recyclers. Plus, this organization recently added Clothes4Souls! Now, you can also send new and used clothes through Zappos for Good too!

**ADDED BONUS: You’ll be helping the environment too! One of Soles4Souls Core Values is our commitment to environmental sustainability by repurposing new and gently worn shoes and clothing that are otherwise thrown away. Since 2006, they have kept 42 million pounds of textiles out of landfills.

Through their micro-enterprise program, these donated items act as a resource to help people in need in developing nations generate income they wouldn’t otherwise have in order to provide for their families. They are able to purchase the items for a nominal amount and use them as products to start and sustain their own small businesses.

.The better the quality, the more impact! Shoes that have significant tearing, soles that are completely worn through or those that show signs of mold are considered unusable. While we try to find a home for all shoes donated to Soles4Souls, unfortunately, some are not usable. Of the millions of pairs of shoes we collect each year, less than 1% have to be discarded.

The EPA states that only 15% of clothing and footwear is recycled, leaving the remaining 85% in our landfills.

6) Donate Time

One local Baltimore organization that is always in need of help is Moveable Feast. They support group volunteering days and can put anyone age 14 and up to work, so it is also a great way to get teen children into the spirit of giving. If you are in another region, you can also search nationally to be matched up to a local non-profit in your area.

VolunteerMatch will match you to virtual or in-person opportunities nationwide. You can filter by cause, location, and volunteer age from kids to seniors. You can also narrow your search to accommodate groups.

Habitat for Humanity is another rewarding way to volunteer your time to help provide housing to those in need. You can learn new skills, make new friends, and bring younger ones to help out as well.

You can see how far your donated time can go. Just ONE HOUR of donated time equates to $20 or more of value!

7) Donate Services

Another fabulous way to gear up for Giving Tuesday is to donate your skills to a charity in need! As a wellness expert, I have volunteered to give nutrition seminars for the American Heart Association. It is a very rewarding experience!

The beauty of this idea is that you don’t even have to go anywhere in person. There are many remote-based opportunities you can do from your own home from helping out with financials to designing a website or marketing strategy. Taproot+ is a great source for finding the best match for you! Taproot+ is an online platform that helps to find causes you’re passionate about that need your unique skill set! So far, the organization has helped provide over $188 million in pro bono work to non-profit organizations!

8) Donate Your Pet

Well, really, this should say lend your pet. Organizations such as Pets on Wheels based in Maryland are always looking for animals that can serve as therapy pets to cheer up a senior center or kids in a hospital. Pet Partners can also locate opportunities across the country.

**ADDED BONUS: Your furry (or even scaly) friend will love the special attention they get from volunteering too!

9) Donate Steps

Download the UNICEF Kid Power App and get moving! Accept fun challenges and unlock lifesaving food packets that are donated to kids in need. If you are an iPhone user, you can connect your UNICEF Kid Power App to your Health app.

If you want to have your kids get involved, you can order power bands from the UNICEF website and pair them to your smartphone. The bands come in cool colors and also tell time.

Moment Mom provides a great overview of how the UNICEF Kid Power Band has motivated her family to be more healthy. Visit her blog for more ideas on how to help others.

10) Donate Thoughts

While Veterans Day has passed, you can honor military veterans and active service members all year long! You can do something as simple as sending a letter to let someone know you care and appreciate their service.

If you don’t know a veteran personally, it is no problem! There are plenty of vets deployed that would love a letter from someone who care about their well-being. There are organizations that can help you out with where to send a letter. A Million Thanks and Operation Gratitude are just a few.

11) Donate Artwork

Not sure what to do with all that great art your children create? Turn it into cards to send to sick children and send them to Cards for Hospitalized Kids. Note that the artwork CANNOT have glitter or any pieces that can fall off due to safety reasons. Or, contact a local nursing home and see if they can accept donations to cheer up their residents.

12) Donate Blood or Stem Cells

There is a constant need to keep our Red Cross blood banks full, especially during times of health crises. Anyone over 18 years old can donate blood. You can choose from many locations from your local hospital to blood banks and bloodmobiles. You can donate blood, platelets, or plasma.

The entire blood donation process usually takes about an hour, so you can easily schedule an appointment online and drop in during your lunch break or another convenient time. Plus, you get free cookies and apple juice after you donate!

Aside from blood donations, there is a constant need for life-saving stem cell donors. It only takes minutes to sign up and get tested to see if you are a match. If you are able to donate your stem cells, the entire process takes less than a day and is free and painless. The only way that people can survive from terrible blood cancers such as lymphoma and sickle cell anemia is through a cell transplant. Becoming a donor and saving someone’s life is THE most rewarding thing that someone can do on this entire list!

American Red Cross: “The need is constant. The gratification is instant.”

Hopefully, you’re now armed with plenty of no-cost ideas and are ready to donate! Remember, your donations can make a BIG impact for someone in need! Happy Giving!

Looking for more ways to give back? Check out Truth That Inspires‘ article on Seven Ways to Show Gratitude.