Gifts-in-kind organizations can benefit churches with free merchandise

Contact: National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (NAEIR), 800-562-0955

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., July 11, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Churches play crucial roles in their respective communities. They're not just places of worship. Many churches offer services to help people and families in crisis. However, most church programs don't have enough resources to provide support to every vulnerable member of their congregations. But gifts-in-kind organizations such as the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (NAEIR) enable church charities to obtain essential items that assist their recipients.

NAEIR solicits donations of valuable, new merchandise from American corporations and redistributes that merchandise to non profit members, which include churches and social service groups.

In cases where a struggling family is in need of a church's intervention, NAEIR's products can provide needed help such as supplies and adequate clothing. Furthermore, NAEIR is an affordable resource church programs can use for a large majority of basic necessities, including personal items and school supplies.

For instance, a church received beautiful windows through the efforts of NAEIR. This renovation would have been an expensive undertaking. But because NAEIR became involved, the church was able to dedicate the funds that might have been spent on this costly purchase to supplement its own mission programs.

In today's economy, many families are experiencing desperate circumstances and must turn to their area churches for assistance. This means the call for household goods and materials is great. Thankfully, membership in gifts-in-kind organizations, like www.NAEIR.org, allows church programs to obtain a great deal of merchandise for an extremely low administrative cost. Charities can browse catalogs of donated supplies and request what they need, thereby saving on what might otherwise be expensive orders.

Companies make such contributions, supporting charitable causes while at the same time taking advantage of tax deductions, reducing storage costs, clearing warehouse space and avoiding hassles with liquidators. And as an added bonus, huge amounts of materials are reused and prevented from heading directly to our nation's landfills.

Items donated include office supplies, class materials, clothing and shoes, maintenance items, tools and hardware, toys and games, computer software, sporting goods, books, tapes, CDs, arts and crafts, personal care items, holiday and party items, janitorial supplies and more.

Church groups usually pay a small membership fee and nominal shipping and handling charges to participate in gifts-in-kind programs, but the merchandise itself is free. The gifts-in-kind organization handles sorting, processing, cataloguing and redistribution of the merchandise.

Organizations that participate are required to use the merchandise in accordance with IRC section 170(e)(3). This states that the merchandise must be used for the care of the ill, needy or minors and cannot be bartered, traded or sold. The merchandise can be given directly to the qualifying individuals served by an organization or used in the administration of the organization.

Gary C. Smith is the president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (NAEIR), the oldest and largest gifts-in-kind organization in the country. NAEIR solicits and receives donations of excess inventory from American corporations and distributes the material to a membership base of more than 13,000 charities. It has collected and redistributed over $3 billion worth of new, donated supplies and equipment since its founding. NAEIR members average more than $18,000 worth of free products per year for their organizations. www.NAEIR.org

For more information, churches can call 1-800-562-0955 or visit NAEIR's website at www.naeir.org.