Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is Goodwill Industries of New Mexico?
We are a private non-profit agency that provides skill development and job opportunities to persons with barriers to employment. We are able to do this with revenues generated through the sale of donated clothing and goods through eleven stores in seven New Mexico communities. A volunteer Board of Directors, comprised of local community leaders, provides oversight and ensures that the organization meets the needs of the citizens of New Mexico.

Who does Goodwill serve?
We serve persons with barriers to employment. We define barriers as learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, age, lack of education, single parenthood, language barriers, extended absence from the workforce (e.g. displaced homemakers or disabled veterans), felony history, co-occurring disorders, substance abuse, domestic violence or neglect, physical challenges, and homelessness or near homelessness. We also maintain contracts with the State of New Mexico to provide case management to individuals with traumatic brain injuries and the disabled and elderly (D&E) population. We partner with other human service agencies and many community-based employers to maximize the benefit to those we serve. In 2007, we provided vocational, case management and referral services to 4,084 New Mexicans.

How else does Goodwill generate income for its employment programs?
Our main source of income is from our retail stores. We also have a Website (www.shopgoodwill.com) where shoppers can find higher quality or unique items for sale in a bidding process. This site is shared with over 65 other Goodwill stores throughout the country and works much like Ebay where items are auctioned on-line. In addition, we research and cultivate contributed income from foundations, government agencies, corporations and private individuals. Once a year in March, we invite the public to join us at our annual fundraising event, “A Celebration of Goodwill,” featuring the presentation of our annual Edgar Awards in Human Services.

What do I do first if I need help from Goodwill?
Contact Us. Tell us if you want Goodwill to work with you to acquire training or if you need a job in your community, or if you want to work at Goodwill. You will need to fill out some paperwork and participate in an intake interview.

What services do you provide?
Our staff provides job assessment, skills training, job placement and job retention to ensure a successful placement. Approximately 12 percent of our clients find work at Goodwill while all others are placed in competitive, community-based employment. Our Transitional Opportunities Program is a sheltered employment program that assists persons with developmental disabilities to learn job skills at Goodwill prior to transitioning into a community-based job.

How are people referred to your programs?
Most are referred from other social service agencies, but many people just walk in and ask for help. Our program offices are open Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm.

Is there a fee for your services?
Goodwill services are free.

If I want to make a cash donation to Goodwill, how can I do that?
• Mail: Marketing Department, 5000 San Mateo Blvd. N.E., Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87109.
• Hand Delivery: To any Goodwill facility.
• Online

Remember to make checks payable to Goodwill Industries of New Mexico. Goodwill is a nonprofit organization, so your contribution is tax deductible and 100 percent of your donation will go to programs serving persons with barriers to employment.

I’d like to donate, but with so many charities out there it’s hard to choose and trust how my money or donated goods are being put to good use. How can I make a wise choice?
Typically, a good rule of thumb is to seek out organizations that put at least 60 percent of their revenues back into its programs. Goodwill Industries of New Mexico is proud to say that it puts over 88 percent of all the revenue into training and employment programs.

Do all the Goodwills around the country do what you do?
No. All Goodwills are operated independently. We all have very similar missions, but how we accomplish our missions varies from one Goodwill to another. Some Goodwills only operate temp agencies. Others provide only contract work, as in construction. For many years, Goodwill Industries of New Mexico operated a very limited employment program, focusing solely on placing clients in its own stores. In the new millennium, this changed dramatically. Today we place the majority of our clients in non-subsidized, competitive, permanent, community-based employment. For a complete listing of our programs, click here.

What material donations do you accept?
We prefer clothing; shoes; house wares such as flatware, dinnerware, pots and pans and kitchen utensils; small appliances like toasters, blenders, mixers and juicers; toys, bicycles, books, sporting equipment, tools, collectables, decorations and furniture.

What material donations do you NOT accept?
We cannot accept mattresses; large appliances such as ovens, washing machines, dryers and dishwashers; other large equipment; firearms and ammunition; chemicals or potentially hazardous materials; and items that are not in good and saleable condition. Click here for a complete list.

What do you do with the material donations you receive?
They are sorted and moved onto the sales floors. Some items are sent to our e-commerce department to be photographed and placed for auction on www.shopgoodwill.com. Once a year, some items are selected for the silent auction at our annual fundraising event, with proceeds benefiting our vocational programs.

Since the material donations are free, why can’t you just give them to people in need?
Goodwill must cover the costs of operating the stores, including staffing, rent, utilities, trucks, insurance and much more. Also, the revenues generated are used to operate the vocational programs serving people with barriers to employment. This would be compromised if material donations were given away. Additionally, since Goodwill’s inception in 1902, the prevailing philosophy has been based on teaching people to support themselves. Our intent is not to dispense charity, but to give people the tools to support themselves and become independent of charity. An early tagline was “Not Charity, But a Chance.”

Why are your prices so high? Our prices are competitive with the demand. We establish prices by surveying the market. While we occasionally make a mistake, we try to make sure we are selling excellent quality merchandise for a price lower than new low-quality merchandise. In addition, our supply of goods for sale depends on our donors who expect that we value their donations properly and are committed to maximizing the impact of their generosity. To ensure a continuous flow of quality donations, we cannot allow our prices to become too low. Many of our donors would become discouraged and complain if we sold their quality donations at extremely low prices. Finally, the money we earn in our retail operations helps fund our vocational services. The more we can earn, the more lives we can improve through job training and placement.

What happens to items that do not sell?
We want to make sure our stores have new merchandise every day. In order for us to make room for new items, existing merchandise is removed if it has not sold within five weeks. These unsold items go from the retail stores to the As-Is Clearance Corner store in Albuquerque (next door to the San Mateo retail store) for sale at lower prices. If these items are still not sold, they are then recycled or sold as salvage. For example, clothes go to textile recyclers.

Goodwill has been green for 67 years! Together with the 200+ other Goodwills across the nation, we are the #3 largest recycler in the nation. We strive to ensure that the greatest dollar is extracted from each donation, and that as much as possible is recycled. The landfill is our last resort.