When donating an electronic device such as a laptop or a computer to a nonprofit organization, it is often up to the donor to determine the value of the item being donated. This can be difficult, as every computer history and situation is different and owners are frequently not experts on assessing the conditions of their own computers/laptops. However, it is important to determine an accurate value of your laptop or computer because you will receive full tax-deductibility in the value that you assess for your electronic upon making the donation. Here are 4 tips for evaluating your computer's donation value:
1.) Assess the year in which the computer was made
- If the computer was made within the past 10 years of the time of donation, then it is likely that the computer is still functioning.
2.) Assess the model of the computer
- It is important to determine if your laptop or computer model is still in existence and if upgrades are still ongoing. If this is the case, then the value of the computer may remain more stable over time as opposed to declining at a faster pace.
3.) Assess the condition of the computer
- When assessing the condition of a computer, may nonprofit organizations require donors to categorize their usage abilities into categories such as "poor, fair, good, and excellent." Although these tools can be helpful from a general perspective, it is also great to assess the computer from the user perspective. Essentially, if the computer is able to be used to word processing and internet browsing, then it is very likely that the computer is able to be donated and that there is a significant value associated with the unit.
4.) Use comparable laptops to find your laptop's donation value
- Similarly to the assessment of value of tangible items such as real estate and cars, electronic items can also be easily assigned an estimate value due to comparable figures. For example, if you have a used 2012 MacBook Pro laptop, it would be beneficial to search the value for other used 2012 MacBook Pro laptops and determine the value of your laptop based on search results. When in doubt, provide the nonprofit to which you are donating with as much information as possible so that they can help you to find your laptop donation value.
If you already have an older computer and would like to determine what to do with it next, please download this FREE Checklist of What To Do With An Old Computer:
Once you have completed this checklist, you will be ready to advance to your next stage in the computer recyling/donation process.
