Goodwill’s Designer Purse Drive Aids the Unemployed
During a tour of a local Goodwill Center, Nevada First Lady Dawn Gibbons experienced an aha! moment. The proverbial light bulb went off when the First Lady found herself in “the cage”, a special area in Goodwill’s distribution warehouse where high-end designer merchandise is housed. “Cage” treasures could include anything from pristine Christian Dior heels and vintage Gucci bags to never-been-worn Chanel sunglasses and Versace jeans.
“I was looking at some of the things and I thought it would be neat if they did an auction with the designer handbags—especially if they solicited ones that people weren’t using anymore,” explains Gibbons.
Kathy Topp, Director of Marketing & Business Development for Goodwill of Southern Nevada, who was Gibbons’ tour guide, and not one to let any grass grow under her feet, jumped on the idea.
“I immediately thought it was a great idea. We got right to work and held Goodwill’s first ever designer purse drive last spring. Called The Job is in the Bag!, we were able to collect about 40 designer handbags. It was tremendously successful for us, raising approximately $3000. Our goal was $2000 so we were very pleased with the results.”
“I was thrilled,” explains Gibbons of the drive’s results. “I think they did most of it through the Internet, which shows how powerful that is as a medium for fundraising. It was very effective.”
Gibbons even put her money where her mouth was donating a Louis Vuitton handbag she hadn’t used in years. “I think they got $360 for it. I am going to donate another Louis Vuitton item this year. I am trying to decide which one to give up,” offers Gibbons.
Auctioning off the designer handbags on the eBay-esque auction site, www.shopgoodwill.com, Goodwill of Southern Nevada has been called the “Neiman’s of Goodwill stores around the country,” according to Alisca Redmon, Goodwill of Southern Nevada’s E-Commerce Store Manager. “We regularly receive such brands as Gucci, Coach, Fendi, Dooney & Bourke and Balenciaga. It’s not unusual for us to get $800 for a Chanel handbag or a vintage Gucci either.”
Goodwill of Southern Nevada only started posting auction items at shopgoodwill.com in January 2009. “First we had to put essential procedures in place like getting everything authenticated. We needed to do it the right way from the beginning, so we studied a lot of sites to make sure we knew exactly what we were doing.”
That has included everything from being selective about the inventory they accept, to investing in special photo booths so professional product photos can be taken, to establishing a packing and shipping center to ensure items are not damaged in transit.
“We are definitely doing something right because we get a lot of return customers and,” adds Alisca, “in 2009 we were 16 out of 83 Goodwill store’s utilizing the website.”
For Topp it’s about the mission. “We want to make sure our supporters are getting the most value for their donation.”
But that’s not the only mission Topp has in mind when she talks about the revenue Goodwill makes from selling high-end items online, which is where the cleverly titled The Job is in the Bag! purse drive comes in.
“The free job placement services and programs we offer the community are almost 95 percent funded by sale of items in the Goodwill stores and online,” explains Topp.
One recipient of this “goodwill” is Patricia, who is using Goodwill’s Career Connections to find employment after being out of the workplace for nearly 20 years. Patricia’s employment gap is a result of taking care of her special needs child who recently passed away. The gap in her resume has left the former clerical worker behind with regard to technology in the workplace. She is not familiar with e-mail or any computer programs for that matter.
“I’m afraid because I haven’t worked for so long,” assesses Patricia of her job situation. “But I have the found the right place. I am just so grateful to have found this place and that I will learn the computers and that whole mouse thing.”
Patricia’s career counselor, Jose, started by giving her clothing vouchers of $150 so she could get the appropriate interview outfits. The vouchers are good at Goodwill stores and recipients are encouraged to spend the whole amount.
Goodwill will also provide Patricia with computer classes to update her skills as well as help her fix up her resume. Additionally, Patricia registered on powerofwork.org, a spider site that pulls jobs from sites all over the Las Vegas Valley into one central area, so she can easily review and apply for jobs.
“While this is a great tool, we think you need to sit down and meet with someone to talk with you face to face,” explains Topp. To meet that need, Goodwill has bilingual employment specialists in place to help job seekers. Goodwill also has phones, fax machines, and Internet accessibility for initiating job searches at both Career Connections centers, one is at their Cheyenne location, which opened in 2005, and another just opened last year at the organization’s Tropicana location. There is absolutely no cost to job seekers to utilize the resources of Career Connections.
“It’s not a 100 percent guarantee but we have a great track record,” adds Topp of users being able to find a job. “We were able to help 889 people find employment in 2009.”
Patricia acknowledges that “20 years is a lot to take a chance on somebody” but beaming with pride in her new interview clothes, Patricia’s enthusiasm for finding a job must be evident as she has just been contacted about returning for a second interview with a local casino.
So for Patricia—our fingers are crossed that because of a simple donation of a designer purse—the job will soon be in the bag.
