Dress for Success Donations

[newgirl07 0]

Hi Everyone,

For those of you who are outgrowing your professional clothing, please consider donating it to Dress for Success. Home - Dress for Success This organization helps low income women with the resources they need (not just clothes) to find employment.

I think there's been some misconceptions about this organization. I read in a prior post that someone was upset because D4S was selling the clothes they receive.

One of my best friends is the Executive Director of Dress For Success here in Oregon. They have such a small budget; it's unbelievable what they can do with it. The vast majority of the clothes they receive go directly to women but the ones that are left over do sometimes get sold to help pay for running the nonprofit. It's extremely hard for nonprofits to get funding that lasts for a number of years. Sometimes, funders think "let's give someone else a chance" and don't fund year after year. Competition for very limited grant dollars is fierce and forget about the government; D4S (at least here in Oregon) doesn't get government $.

So really, the only consistent "resource" that has a potential dollar value to help keep the organization alive are donations. D4S does have fundraising events but it's expensive to put those on so you can only do so many per year. Other fundraising such as mailers, etc. is also expensive. Selling clothes that women haven't used is one way for them to keep providing their valuable services. And let me tell you, they have a very small staff and NOBODY is getting rich from selling your donations.

If anyone has a question about this organization, please PM me. I hope you'll all consider this as an avenue for cleaning out your closets.

Best of luck everyone!