Most companies are sitting on more inventory than they can use. They may have obsolete inventory, overstocks, or so much raw material that they have no hope of using it in the near future. If you cannot sell it, consider donating it. One of the major channels for inventory donations is the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources (www.naeir.org), which accepts new items from donors and distributes them to non-profits and schools. Here is how the process works:
- Create a list of items to donate, with a description, quantity, and retail value.
- Fax the list to NAEIR at 309-343-0862.
- NAEIR will send you an acceptance letter if they can use the inventory. If they cannot use it, do not ship it.
- Ship the accepted items to NAEIR (you pay the freight).
- NAEIR sends you tax documentation. For tax purposes, you can deduct your cost, plus half the difference between your cost and the fair market value, with a maximum deduction of twice your cost.
On the other end of the transaction, non-profits and schools pay a $595 annual fee to NAEIR. In exchange, they receive a catalog of what NAEIR has in stock five times a year. NAEIR allocates inventory from each catalog on a weekly basis, over a ten week period (after which they issue a new catalog). They do this so that their stocks of high-demand items are not taken as soon as each new catalog is issued. Each member can request items from the catalog, but there is no assurance that there will be enough inventory to go around.
Some large companies have gotten involved in this program, including Gillette, Microsoft, and General Electric.