EDITOR’S VIEWPOINT/Group pairs those that have with those that need
There is, as we all know, no free lunch. But there are free light fixtures. And there are free volleyballs and free lug wrenches and free software and free cable ties. And free Jack-o-Lantern candle holders. You just have to know where to look.
The National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources is where to look. The 24-year-old non-profit organization has lots of stuff, and, every year, it gives away $100 million worth of it.
Daniel Bernier, the director of park planning for Elizabeth, N.J., found out about NAEIR (rhymes, naturally, with “share”) in 1986. He immediately talked the city into joining and figures that, in the 15 years since, Elizabeth has gotten more than $100,000 worth of stuff it would not have otherwise been able to buy.
“I used to keep a running tally of how much we were getting,” he says. “It was $10,000 to $12,000 a year, but it’s been more lately.”
Here’s how it works: NAEIR serves as a sort of good fairy go-between for corporations looking to unload excess inventory and non-profits, like schools, charities and local governments, looking for, well, all kinds of stuff.
Every 10 weeks, NAEIR publishes a 250-page catalog. Members pay to get the catalog — $475 for four, $575 for five. That covers NAEIR’s overhead.
Members go through the catalog and pick out what they want. They send in their order forms, and a computerized allocation system decides what they get. According to NAEIR, members receive an average of $2,500 worth of merchandise from every catalog. (They do have to pay shipping and handling.)
Donor corporations get an income tax deduction that can equal as much as the cost of the products donated, plus half the difference between cost and fair market value. Donors have included Microsoft, 3M, Rubbermaid, Reader’s Digest, Stanley Tools and Oreck.
Mostly, local governments use the service to get merchandise they otherwise would not order. For example, Bernier says, “We have a Halloween program for the kids. This year we ordered Jack-o-Lantern candle holders. And we get novels that we put in the jury room at the courthouse. Those are the kinds of things we would never order if we’d had to pay for them.”
Some of the items, however, are necessities that cost little as individual items but add up when purchased in bulk. Alvin Cowan, who works in the Ochiltree County, Texas, facilities maintenance department, gets paint, rubber gloves, mops, brooms and automotive cable from NAEIR. “It costs us about $500 a year,” he says. “And we get more than $500 worth of stuff every time we order.”
You can get information about NAEIR and its members at (800) 562-0955. Don’t say I never did anything for you.