Finding Worthy Recipients

Word of mouth is the best way to find worthy recipients for our refurbished computers, because we have found that when we give machines to one group, they let other related groups know about us, however there are several ways that we have reached out to try to identify other groups.

Life Senior Services published The Vintage Guide to Housing and Services which lists a number of housing options for seniors. I went through and contacted the Senior Citizen Centers, Tulsa Housing Authority facilities, and HUD Section 8 facilities and contacted them to see if they would be interested in setting up a Computer Lab for the seniors living in their facilities. The first to indicate they would like to set up a Computer Lab was Tulsa Pythian Manor that received 14 computers between their two locations, and they set them up in their library, which was open from 8am to 10pm, and reports indicated there was never a time when there was not at least someone using the machines. In fact the demand was so great that one of the facilities had to provide a key to one of the residents so he could keep the library open after the paid librarian left for the day. We have subsequently provided labs to a number of other facilities, including some that just house seniors, and some that also accept low income families.
The Tulsa Volunteer Center publishes a Wishbook, listing a number of nonprofit organizations' needs for donated items. When we got a copy we found a number seeking computers or computer equipment. Some of them were groups we had already provided machines to, some were groups that had already obtained machines from other sources, but a number were groups that still had an outstanding need for machines, and they were very grateful that we contacted them.
TechSoup has two databases:
- Find Recycled Hardware which lists organizations that recycle and refurbish hardware which can help your school or charity find working equipment that will meet your needs.
- Donate Hardware to help one find nonprofit and school-based recyclers, which are ideal for donating working equipment less than five years old, and commercial recyclers, which are more appropriate for older or non-working equipment. Recyclers and refurbishers can make sure your equipment gets to schools and charities in good working order, and can install legal software, wipe hard drives, and dispose of expensive e-waste.
and we are listed on both databases, and have received several contacts from those listings.
They also have a number of message boards including:
and we have participated in a number of them, and have received some contacts as a result of that participation.
Google is a very good search engine, and we have used it to identify groups that might have need of our refurbished computers. For example, when we developed our Children's Image I did a search for websites of schools in this area, and contacted some of the administrators in the various school districts asking if they knew of any after school programs being conducted in any churches or other places that might have a need for refurbished computers with that image.