How it works

One board. Three useful views.

A neighbor finds a place for the coats. A nonprofit keeps the answer current. A sponsor sees what the region needs.

From a quick check to a clearer month.

Each person gets the detail they need to make the next decision. The screens below show sample information.

01 / Neighbor

Search for coats, see who is accepting them and check hours before leaving home.

02 / Nonprofit

When the shelf changes, the team replies from its phone. The listing shows the new status and check-in time.

03 / Sponsor

The coalition lead gets a view across partners, so recurring shortages are easier to spot.

These published figures describe pressure on giving and sorting. They do not measure Doorlight’s results.

$16.8B

Clothing ($11.3B) and household goods ($5.5B) given in a single year.

IRS Statistics of Income · tax year 2015 · itemized returns only

10–50%

Of what thrift charities receive actually sells; the rest is sorted, hauled or dumped at their cost.

Waste Dive · 2024

11.3M tons

Textiles landfilled in the US in one year.

US EPA · 2018

~$500k a year

What one regional Goodwill spent disposing of donations it could not use.

6abc Philadelphia investigation

More than half

Unsolicited goods sent after disasters are low priority.

Georgia Tech humanitarian logistics research

29%

People turned away when trying to give were less likely to give again. This study followed blood donors.

Washington University Olin Business School · 2021

A temporary answer has an end date. If no one confirms it again, the board stops treating it as current.

Every listing shows when its status was last confirmed, so neighbors can judge whether to call first.

Preview listings and reports say Sample. Estimates are labelled as estimates before they appear in a report.

Start a board

Begin with partners that already receive in-kind donations, then open the board to neighbors.