Collecting Stuff: Difference between revisions

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How you go about finding stock for your event is likely to depend on how much you'll be giving away and what sort of access you have to your venue before the event.  
How you find stock for your event depends on how much you'll be giving away and what access you have to your venue beforehand.


*If, for example, you want to be able give away lots of stuff, collecting it all yourself from individual Freecycle members is either very laborious, or just downright impractical, as it's very time-consuming and fairly consistent access to some form of personal transport. I tried this approach using public transport, which is very good in London, and it took ages and started getting costly in terms of fares quite quickly.
Think about:
* what type of items you want
* how many items you want
* how you'll transport them
* how you'll dispose of them if they're not taken at the event


*If you have space at home to store Freecycle items, you can start building up a collection by putting out requests for items as ADMINs on your group. Saturday and Sunday are both days many people are happy to drop things off, if given enough notice. We've not tried this approach at Kingston, and one potentially important issue is that even though you won't have to put your address in the original email, you might still end up having to give it to more people than you might feel comfortable with.
Plan ahead and the event will go much more smoothly.


*If you're able to store stuff at the venue you'll be using for the event itself, frankly, you're laughing. We were able to do this for quite a while at the Environment Centre here in Kingston, and it made setting up the event far easier than it was when all of the various items were stored off-site.
==Ways to collect stock==


We put ADMINs on our group to let people know that one of us would be at the Environment centre on Saturday or Sunday between, say, 10am and 2pm, and that anyone who wanted to donate some items to our collection could do so by dropping them off at the centre. This worked very well, and gave us a chance to cull some of the items which were just rubbish – too tatty or worn out to have any chance of being collected by visitors to the event.  
* '''Collecting from individual members yourself''' - if you want to give away lots of stuff, collecting it all yourself from individual Freegle members is either very laborious or downright impractical. It's time-consuming and you need fairly consistent access to personal transport - public transport isn't practical for large quantities.


*Another popular approach is, of course, to ask members to bring items on the day of the event, although it's still vital to have at least a reasonable number of items there for the first browsers to have a look at, since it will take you and your volunteers a while to sort through donations as they come in, and vet them to make sure they're all appropriate and conform to the Freecycle rules.
* '''Storing at home''' - if you have space at home, start building up a collection by posting requests for items as admins on your community. Saturdays and Sundays are both days many people are happy to drop things off, given enough notice. Be wary of giving your address to too many people.


In my experience, the best way to get together the largest quantity of stuff is 3). Using the other approaches, you'll receive smaller amounts, but done properly, 2) and 4) are still infinitely preferable to 1). If all you're looking for is enough items to cover a small table, 1) then becomes a viable proposition.  
* '''Storing at the venue''' - if you can store stuff at the event venue itself, you're in a good position. It makes setting up the event far easier than storing everything off-site. You could post admins letting people know someone will be at the venue at a certain day and time, so anyone wanting to donate items can drop them off. This works well, and lets you cull items that are just rubbish - too tatty or worn out to have any chance of being taken by visitors - since you'll inevitably end up with some of those.


<br>
* '''Asking people to bring items on the day''' - a popular approach, though it's still vital to have a reasonable number of items ready for the first browsers, since it takes time for you and your volunteers to sort through donations as they arrive and check they're appropriate and meet any legal or other requirements.


Back to [[Events]] or [[Publicity]] [[File:Megaphone-man.png|20px|link=Publicity]]<br>
Before you collect items, have a plan for what to do with them if the event is cancelled or they're not taken on the day. Some can be freegled by you and your volunteers, but larger amounts might need storage until another event, or a trip to a charity shop - or you could arrange for a charity shop to collect everything, on the understanding they take it all rather than picking and choosing.


[[Category:Groups]]
==See also==
* [[Events]]
* [[Publicity]]
 
[[Category:Running Your Community]]

Latest revision as of 12:00, 17 July 2026

How you find stock for your event depends on how much you'll be giving away and what access you have to your venue beforehand.

Think about:

  • what type of items you want
  • how many items you want
  • how you'll transport them
  • how you'll dispose of them if they're not taken at the event

Plan ahead and the event will go much more smoothly.

Ways to collect stock

  • Collecting from individual members yourself - if you want to give away lots of stuff, collecting it all yourself from individual Freegle members is either very laborious or downright impractical. It's time-consuming and you need fairly consistent access to personal transport - public transport isn't practical for large quantities.
  • Storing at home - if you have space at home, start building up a collection by posting requests for items as admins on your community. Saturdays and Sundays are both days many people are happy to drop things off, given enough notice. Be wary of giving your address to too many people.
  • Storing at the venue - if you can store stuff at the event venue itself, you're in a good position. It makes setting up the event far easier than storing everything off-site. You could post admins letting people know someone will be at the venue at a certain day and time, so anyone wanting to donate items can drop them off. This works well, and lets you cull items that are just rubbish - too tatty or worn out to have any chance of being taken by visitors - since you'll inevitably end up with some of those.
  • Asking people to bring items on the day - a popular approach, though it's still vital to have a reasonable number of items ready for the first browsers, since it takes time for you and your volunteers to sort through donations as they arrive and check they're appropriate and meet any legal or other requirements.

Before you collect items, have a plan for what to do with them if the event is cancelled or they're not taken on the day. Some can be freegled by you and your volunteers, but larger amounts might need storage until another event, or a trip to a charity shop - or you could arrange for a charity shop to collect everything, on the understanding they take it all rather than picking and choosing.

See also

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