The Real Goodwill®: What You Want to Know
What does Goodwill do?
Goodwill is the largest nonprofit workforce development organization in North America. What does that mean? It means that we connect people who face challenges to earning or maintaining long-term, well-paid employment with resources, training, hands-on experience and local employers.
We realize that not everyone is aware of the Goodwill mission, so we created a public awareness campaign, dubbed “New Lives,” that features many of the amazing individuals who have changed their lives with Goodwill’s services.
received services from Goodwill to grow their careers and other support-related services
found employment through services provided by local Goodwills
across the U.S. allow adult learners to earn their high school diplomas and learn new skills.
What happens to my donated goods?
Donated goods are sold in both our traditional retail stores and ecommerce sites. Donations that don’t sell initially can also be sold in Goodwill outlet stores at significantly lower prices, often by the pound. Anything that is not sold in one of our retail channels is sorted for recycling, reuse markets, downcycling or export.
A recent piece in Resource Recycling provides more background on Goodwill’s work, including an important new collaboration with Reju and WM to develop new, much-needed textile recycling strategies.
How does Goodwill use the revenue from my donated goods?
The revenue from your donated goods stays in your local community to assist veterans, people with disabilities, individuals impacted by the justice system, older workers and other individuals with obstacles to employment. Goodwill career navigators and coaches assist people one-on-one with pathways to education, job skills, résumé writing, interview coaching and other support services like transportation, dependent care and nutrition support.
What happens with my financial donation?
Financial donations ensure that the Goodwill mission reaches more people and provide more opportunities for economic mobility. For details on what this looks like, we encourage you to review our Annual Impact Report.
Why are Goodwill stores different in different areas?
Goodwill is a network of 153 local independent nonprofits, each with its own local board of directors, CEO and leadership team. As such, the local Goodwill team is responsible for creating the shopping experience near you. This means making a trip to another store from a different region will look quite different — but the thrill of the treasure hunt remains the same. Mission programs are also run locally and developed for the most pressing needs of that specific community.
How are Goodwill prices determined?
The revenue from donated goods provides people in your local area with free job training, career placement support and other human services that can help them build skills, advance in their careers or manage other life circumstances. For that reason, when a store receives donations, our team works to set a price that reflects fair market value for the local community while also making the most of the donated item’s value.
What does Goodwill do for sustainability?
One of the best ways we can all be stewards of our environment is to keep items in circulation for longer. Shopping secondhand does that. Goodwill is one of the biggest promoters of reuse, and we are doing this not just for clothing but also for electronics, household goods and more. In 2023, thanks to our donors and shoppers, we recovered the value of over 4.3 billion pounds of used goods.
While we are proud of how many items we are able to keep in circulation through our stores, the Goodwill network is working hard at both a national and local level to develop more circular options for donated goods. These solutions include upcycling and remanufacturing, fiber-to-fiber recycling and downcycling for industrial uses such as carpet fibers, insulation, rags and other products. There are also initiatives at the local and regional levels focused on other hard-to-recycle items like plastics, glass and wood. For an example of one such initiative, you can read this piece in Sourcing Journal.
We’re also supporting the clean tech industry with the Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator™, which trains entry-level employees for jobs in solar installation, HVAC/heat pump installation and electrical vehicle charging station maintenance.
Who does Goodwill hire?
For many of the people we serve, the path to independence starts with a job at our stores. We’re a second-chance employer, provide an accessible work environment and connect with our employees one-on-one to ensure they have the tools to achieve their goals, whether that’s at Goodwill or with another employer.
Because our stores are a learning environment for many, we acknowledge that it won’t always be perfect, but we’re committed to helping our team constantly improve your shopping experience and their skills. We hope you give them grace as they work to change their economic prospects.
Who is the CEO of Goodwill?
The president and CEO of Goodwill Industries International (GII) is Steve Preston. In addition, each regional Goodwill organization is autonomous from GII and other Goodwill organizations. Each local Goodwill headquarters has its own leadership team and CEO. GII exists to support those local Goodwill organizations.
You can look up your local store and view the website to find your area’s CEO on our store locator.
Can anyone receive career support from Goodwill?
Yes! You’ll want to connect with your local career center to see what specific kind of support is available in your region.
Find the career center nearest you to learn more about what services and programs are available in your area.
