Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin & Metropolitan Chicago Donation Guidelines

Your Donations Provide a Second Chance

When you donate goods to Goodwill, you make a difference in people’s lives, strengthen communities, and support a sustainable environment. Your generous donations stock our stores, and these proceeds support our mission of helping individuals overcome barriers, access training, employment and supportive services.

Goodwill accepts donations of gently used items. Donations can be made at our retail stores and attended donation centers. If you are unable to make it to one of our donation centers, you can schedule convenient donation pickups and delivery, including larger items, through our partnership with ReSupply.

While we cannot accept certain items directly, ReSupply can assist with donation pickup. We'll sort through what we can accept, and ReSupply will ensure the rest goes to other local nonprofits. If you would like to call and schedule a ReSupply donation pickup, please call 234-813-5350.

Items We CAN Accept

Goodwill happily accepts the following new or gently used items:

  • Vehicles—We accept donations of vehicles in all conditions. Learn more and fill out a vehicle donation form on our Vehicle Donation Page to get started. 
  • Clothing, shoes and boots
  • Jewelry
  • Hats, gloves, mittens, and scarves
  • Books, records, CDs, videotapes, and DVDs
  • Games, toys, and sports equipment
  • Housewares: dishes, glassware, kitchen utensils, lamps, and small appliances
  • Collectibles, antiques, knickknacks, and other giftware
  • Hand tools and small power tools
  • Domestics: linens, curtains, blankets, etc.
  • Electronics including but not limited to:
    • CPUs
    • Flat-screen monitors (no CRTs)
    • Hard drives
    • Laptops
    • Cell phones
    • VCRs
    • DVD players
  • TVs working flat screen (no CRTs)

To help you determine your donations fair market value Goodwill is happy to provide a “Value Guide” that offers average prices in our stores for items in good condition.

While we don't currently offer home pickup of donations directly, you can schedule convenient pickup and delivery to Goodwill through ReSupply. If you would like to call and schedule a ReSupply donation pickup, please call 234-813-5350.

Items We CANNOT Accept

It's hard to say "no thank you" to a donation when those donations help to fund Goodwill programs. However, we do need to refuse some items for being non-recyclable or containing hazardous materials. Other times, the item must be refused because it costs more to transport, repair or refurbish than it can be sold for in our stores. Our donation attendants are trained to know what we can and cannot accept and will help guide you to other possibilities for donations we cannot use.

While we cannot accept certain items directly, the ReSupply program allows you to include items such as furniture in your scheduled donation pickup. ReSupply will donate these items to other local nonprofits and the rest of your donation will support Goodwill job training and placement programs. 

The following items are currently what we CANNOT accept:

  • Furniture
    • Chairs, stools, or couches
    • Mattresses and bed frames
    • Desks or other office furniture
    • Tables of any kind
    • Dressers, bookcases, entertainment centers, etc.
  • Large exercise equipment
  • Pianos or organs
  • CRT TVs
  • CRT Computer Monitors
  • Household chemical products such as pesticides, paint, paint thinner, drain cleaner, oven cleaner, aerosols, and other environmentally unfriendly waste products.
  • Automotive hazardous waste such as tires, lead-acid batteries, additives, gasoline, oils, antifreeze, etc.
  • Large appliances such as refrigerators, freezers, stoves/ovens, washers/dryers, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, furnaces, trash compactors, water heaters, large console stereos, freon-based appliances, etc.
  • Personal care items such as shampoo, conditioner, nail polish remover, shaving cream, hairsprays, or shavers
  • Fragrance items
  • Carpet or carpet padding
  • Plumbing fixtures or building materials
  • Traditional recyclables such as glass, newsprint, office paper, cardboard, plastics, magazines, junk mail, etc.
  • Weapons such as guns, bows and arrows, ammunition, etc.
  • Cribs, car seats, walkers or other products that do not meet the current safety standards of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, including recalled items.