5 Charities That Pick Up Your Donations

We've researched dozens of donation centers to find charities that will come to your home and pick up your donation instead of requiring you to drop it off. These five are our favorites. 

Best overall
Best for furniture donations
Best for clothing and appliance donations
Goodwill
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    Free donation pickup at some locations
Best for finding local charities
PickUpMyDonation logo
PickUpMy Donation.com
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    Donation pickup may be free depending on charity
Best for home goods donations
Furniture Bank Network
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    Donation pickup pricing starts at $150
Joe Roberts
Jan 19, 2024
bullet5 min read

One of the first steps for a successful move is to get rid of all the stuff you don’t need anymore. You could pay to ship these items to your home, or you could donate them.

When you donate, your old household goods go to a new home where they will be used and appreciated. Plus, donations to charitable organizations are tax-deductible. Ka-ching.

If the inconvenience of hauling heavy or bulky stuff to a donation center is what’s holding you back, then we’ve got good news for you. All the companies on this list will pick up large items like sofas and tables from your home.



Getting ready to move?

Company
Company type
Move.org rating
Packing & loading services
Pricing
Discounts
Learn more
Professional mover
4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8
bulletYes
$$$
bullet10% Move.org discount, military personnel, seniors
Professional mover
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
bulletYes
$$$
bulletNone
Professional mover
4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8
bulletYes
$$$
bulletSeniors
Moving container company
4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6
bulletNo
$$
bullet10% Move.org discount, military personnel
Moving container company
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
bulletNo
$$
bulletMove.org readers, military personnel

The Salvation Army—Best overall

Best overall
Salvation army logo
The Salvation Army

First on our list is The Salvation Army, an international organization that uses donations to help those in need all over the world. If you've ever gone shopping around the holidays, you've probably seen Salvation Army volunteers asking for donations for the organization's red kettle project.

That may be what The Salvation Army is best known for, but the organization also accepts donated household goods, and it will send someone to pick up your furniture donation.

That may be what The Salvation Army is best known for, but the organization also accepts donated household goods, and it will send someone to pick up your furniture donation.

Items The Salvation Army accepts

  • Appliances
  • Clothing
  • Furniture
  • Dishes and kitchenware
  • Decorations and household items
  • Computers and other electronics
  • Automobiles

Who The Salvation Army helps

The Salvation Army assists roughly 25 million Americans every year, and it operates in 133 different countries. Here are some of the communities that the organization assists:

  • Disaster victims
  • People experiencing homelessness and/or food insecurity
  • People in addiction recovery
  • Veterans
  • Older adults
  • Victims of domestic violence
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Please don't donate junk

If there’s something you’re thinking of donating, first ask yourself if it would be useful to someone in need. If it’s unusable or broken beyond repair, it isn’t worth donating.

If you’re unsure how useful the item is, call a donation center and ask if they’ll accept it. If you can’t donate it, contact a junk removal company to take it off your hands instead.


Habitat for Humanity—Best for donating furniture

Best for donating furniture
Habitat for humanity logo
Habitat for Humanity

Habitat for Humanity is a global nonprofit with an ambitious humanitarian goal: “A world where everyone has a decent place to live.” Habitat for Humanity collects monetary donations to build and renovate affordable housing that those in need can apply for.

You can also donate furniture and other household goods to Habitat for Humanity. The organization resells these items in home improvement stores — called Habitat ReStores — and uses the money to fund its humanitarian efforts.

Items Habitat for Humanity accepts

Your local Habitat ReStore may have specific donation requests, but here are the items Habitat for Humanity typically accepts:

  • Appliances
  • Furniture
  • Building materials
  • Household goods
  • Vehicles

Who Habitat for Humanity helps

Habitat for Humanity helps individuals and communities in more than 70 countries. Anyone can apply to live in one of the organization’s homes, but applicants are accepted based on financial need.

In addition to paying their mortgages, which come with affordable and realistic financing options, Habitat for Humanity home buyers also agree to help the organization with volunteer work.


Goodwill—Best for donating clothing and appliances

Best for donating clothing and appliances

Items Goodwill accepts

Like Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill resells donated furniture and other household items to fund its charitable objectives. It sells these items on the Goodwill website and in thrift stores across the country and uses its earnings to provide career training and employment assistance to underemployed individuals.

Goodwill also offers discounts and vouchers to the people enrolled in its training programs, allowing them to affordably furnish their homes and buy clothes for their families.

  • Clothing
  • Books, DVDs, and other media
  • Sports equipment
  • Dishes and kitchenware
  • Tools
  • Electronics
  • Small appliances

Who Goodwill helps

Goodwill gives vocational training and career assistance to anyone experiencing employment barriers. This can include people with disabilities, people who have been laid off, veterans, and people who don’t have marketable job skills or resumes.

Goodwill’s free online training programs teach valuable workplace skills, financial literacy, and interview coaching. Goodwill also helps people earn high school and college degrees (or equivalents) and can even assist with industry certifications.

Lastly, Goodwill offers a job search tool to help job seekers connect with employers.


PickUpMyDonation.com—Best for finding local charities

Best for finding local charities
PickUpMyDonation logo
PickUpMyDonation.com

PickUpMyDonation.com isn’t actually a donation center like The Salvation Army or Habitat for Humanity, and it doesn’t pick up your donations and distribute them. Instead, it helps you find local nonprofits and thrift stores that do.

If your donation isn’t large enough for a local nonprofit to send a truck (most nonprofits can afford to pick up only large donations), PickUpMyDonation.com can still help. The company will put you in touch with a company like College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving—one of our favorite local moving companies—to pick up your donation and take it to a nearby center.

Items PickUpMyDonation.com accepts

Since PickUpMyDonation.com doesn’t literally pick up donations, it doesn’t determine what items are accepted for donation. That depends on which nonprofit you choose to donate to, so read that organization’s list of accepted items to ensure they’ll take what you’re donating.

Who PickUpMyDonation.com helps

PickUpMyDonation.com doesn’t help communities directly. Instead, you choose the nonprofit you want to work with — and who your donation benefits.

After PickUpMyDonation.com directs you to nonprofits in your area, choose one that benefits a community you care about and want to help.


Furniture Bank Network—Best for donating home goods

Best for donating home goods
Furniture Bank Network

Furniture Bank Network helps people furnish their homes with comfy and practical secondhand items donated by people within the community. The best part is that recipients get the furniture for free (aside from delivery fees).

People can get furnishings from their local Furniture Bank only if they are referred to the organization through one of its social service partners. This ensures that the furniture goes to those who need it most.

Items Furniture Bank accepts

  • Furniture
  • Electronics
  • Appliances
  • Dishes and kitchenware
  • Decor

Who Furniture Bank helps

Furniture Bank’s goal is to help those who can afford apartments or homes but can’t afford to furnish them. This can include the following groups:

  • People who have experienced homelessness
  • People who are unemployed
  • People with disabilities
  • Disaster victims
  • Victims of domestic violence
  • Immigrants
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We can help you stay organized while you move

There’s more to moving than getting your belongings from A to B. If setting up insurance, internet, utilities, or home security services while planning your move makes you hyperventilate, we’ve got an answer for you!

Move.org offers a free, all-in-one solution that provides you with a personal concierge who will assist you in setting up all those services (and more!). From finding the best mover in your area to forwarding your mail to your new address, our moving concierge removes the hassle of self setup and helps you save money.


Donation FAQs

When you donate your furniture, appliances, or clothing, collect a tax receipt from the organization you’re donating to. This receipt should include the date, location, and description of your donation. If you can’t get a receipt, keep a thoroughly detailed record of your donation yourself.

Part of this process is estimating the value of each item you donate. The Salvation Army can help you with this: its donation value guide lists the approximate value of various household items. You can check it out here.

When it’s time to file your taxes, itemize the donations you made on Form 1040, Schedule A.7

Most charitable organizations will pick up your donation only if it’s large enough to be cost-effective. If all you’re donating is a box of small appliances or baby clothes, it’s unlikely that any organization on this list will come get it from your house.

However, if you have a sizable donation that includes large items and furniture, any of these organizations will probably come directly to your home to take it off your hands.

That said, these organizations manage and accept donations through donation centers across the country. Each donation center handles pickups differently, and some might not even have the necessary staff or facilities to make pickups feasible.


Recommended resources

Now that we’ve talked about the great charities that will come to your house to accept your donations, we recommend checking out these other resources that can help you when you’re moving or downsizing:

People also asked . . .

Sources

  1. The Salvation Army, “What We Do,” Accessed January 2024.
  2. Habitat for Humanity, “Our Mission, Vision and Principles,” Accessed January 2024.
  3. Red Cross, “About Us,” Accessed January 2024.
  4. Sawso.org, “Vision,” Accessed January 2024.
  5. Habitat for Humanity, “Where We Work,” Accessed January 2024.
  6. Habitat for Humanity, “Frequently Asked Questions,” Accessed January 2024.
  7. Goodwill, “FAQS,” Accessed January 2024.
  8. Goodwill, “Jobs & Training,” Accessed January 2024.
  9. Furniture Bank, “Accessing Furniture Bank,” Accessed January 2024.
  10. H&R Block, “Charitable Donations,” Accessed January 2024.
Joe Roberts
Written by
Joe Roberts
Joe Roberts is a professional writer with a degree in writing studies and over four years of copywriting experience. He previously worked at Overstock.com, where he wrote about furniture, home decor, and moving. Joe has moved all over Utah, so he knows his way around a moving truck—and he spends his time (and money) expanding his personal library so it will be even heavier next time he moves.