1.) Donating Has Financial and Personal Benefits for You
Donating a computer is beneficial to you as a donor because it is a productive way to get rid of an obsolete object in your life. You might not even realize that your old computer or laptop might be taking up extra space in your home and without it, your clutter will be significantly reduced. Instead
of having your computer sit unused in your home, donating can be a great solution to clearing out space for yourself and simultaneously allowing your computer to be used by someone else who otherwise would never have the opportunity.
Donating your computer is also financially beneficial to you because your donation is fully tax-deductible. This means that the nonprofit organization to which you donate will send you a letter of tax-deductibility after you make your donation. This is used to prove to the IRS that you in fact made the donation and enables you to list the value of your donation on your taxes. For more information regarding tax-deductibility, check out our frequently asked questions page here.
2.) Donating a Computer Helps Your Community
If you choose to donate locally, your contribution can make a tremendous difference for underprivileged individuals in your community. For example, there might be a school with insufficient funding that could significantly benefit from being able to use your computer. In today's professional environment, it is expected for job candidates to have a certain level of computer literacy, and the earlier that children can start learning these skills the better. By donating your computer to a local school in need, your technology can be used by several students for many different learning purposes.
3.) Donating Benefits the Environment and Reduces Electronic Waste
Arguably one of the greatest benefits of donating a computer is that it helps to reduce electronic waste. Computer equipment is comprised of materials such as heavy metals, chemical compounds, and semi-metals. Other materials such as arsenic, lead, and mercury are also present within computers and are dangerous and have been linked to significant health problems such as diabetes, cognitive functioning issues, and cancer.
4.) Donating Fosters Interconnectedness of Communities and Different Countries
Donating your computer to a nonprofit organization that directs donations to communities in need or even different countries in need is a great opportunity to increase the connectedness of your own community with another. For example, there might be an underprivileged community near you that could significantly benefit from using your old computer. Initiatives like these help to reduce the inequality of resources that frequently exist throughout different towns in the U.S.
On an international scale, your old computer can be used in order to make a connection with individuals in different countries throughout the world. For example, there might be a school in Mexico that could use your old computer to teach children how to read and write. Depending on the nonprofit organization to which you donate, you may not be able to know specifically who will be using your old computer; however, it will certainly be gratifying to know that it has changed someone else's life.
5.) Donating Increases Literacy and Access to Information
While computers are frequently just as common as papers and pens are for writing in most developed countries, this is far from the case in developing countries. By providing technology resources to underserved countries and communities, you are directly increasing not only computer literacy, but also literacy in general. Because computers typically have internet browsing capabilities, you are also spreading access to information. For example, there might be a small business owner in Peru who could greatly benefit from having a computer in order to access information regarding competitors via a used computer. He might would also be able to expand his business through creating a digital presence. Similarly, donating your computer could also be used by a teacher in a developing country in order to improve the quality and quantity of information that she can pass on to her students.
