The Curious Case of Donating IT Equipment

TechSoup has been working on the strangely difficult problem of increasing the volume of five-year-old-and-newer computers donated to our Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) program and also to other refurbishers that supply IT equipment to schools, nonprofits, and low-income families for some years now. In RCI we accept bulk donations of 100 or more computers at a time.

When we published our Islands in the Wastestream report on the state of the noncommercial computer refurbishing field in 2004, one of our essential findings was that a lack of steady donated computer supplies is one of the primary inhibitors to the computer reuse field. It was true then and it's still true now, especially in recessionary times when companies are either extending the leases on their IT equipment or simply holding on to the computers they have beyond the normal three to four years they ordinarily keep them.

Companies or institutions are key to supplying five-year-old-and-newer computers in to the reuse sector. They account for the majority of the computer install base and they ordinarily discard computers when warranties run out after three years. Individuals on the other hand tend to hold on to computers much longer and so often discard them after they're five years or when closer to end-of-life at around seven years old. This means that individual donations really won't solve the shortage of donated equipment.

The business research companies IDC and Gartner have consistently found that donating computers are either significantly risky in terms of data security or difficult in terms of finding the right donation partner.

It certainly works best for everyone involved if companies or individuals donate their five-year-old-and-newer equipment to a refurbisher rather than directly to a charity or school, especially if you need your hard drive wiped or are not sure of the condition of your equipment. Refurbishers will ensure that equipment passed on to nonprofits and schools is working well and runs legal copies of software. They also know how to properly dispose of non-usable parts, e-waste, and to securely wipe a machine of all data.

There are a number of Community Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers, many of which are nonprofit refurbishers that do this work very well, and are easy to find via a zip code searchable listing of them. We've also advocated for computer donations with our Ten Tips for Donating a Computer, which is a perennial top ten article on TechSoup.

One of our most concerted efforts to fix the computer donation problem is in our Refurbished Computer Initiative (RCI) where we have designed a program that supplies companies with very high-end asset management services including data security guarantees via our refurbishment partner, Redemtech. The added bonuses are the tax and social benefits of donating to a nonprofit. The environmental benefit of adding life to IT equipment is very strong; roughly 25 times more beneficial environmentally to reuse computers than to recycle them at 3 to 5 years of age.

Some of the best information on the value and benefits of donating IT equipment is from the U.S. Environmnetal Protection Agency (EPA). They did a couple of great public awareness pieces called Do the PC Thing a couple years ago. One of them is for corporate donors (PDF) and one of them is for individuals (PDF). The EPA also did a great short video featuring corporate leaders talking about donating IT equipment called Pass IT On.

We have a complete roster of donation benefits through our RCI program where we accept bulk donations of 100 or more five-year-old-and-newer computers. The U.S. tax laws pertaining to donations to nonprofits, libraries, and school, are in Section 170 of the Federal Income Tax Code. Business donors can deduct the un-depreciated value of the computer, and individuals can deduct the current market value of a donated computer.

If you're interested in donating your computers to a refurbishment program like TechSoup's, please visit the Refurbished Computer Intitiative to learn more.