Thank you for your interest in holding a One Warm Coat drive.
The need for coats is great, but thanks to thousands of volunteers like you (One Warm Coat Ambassadors) who hold coat drives each year, more than half a million children and adults receive free coats each winter!
When you register to become a Coat Drive Ambassador, you receive:
- A custom coat drive webpage to help promote your drive, track your coat goals, and accept financial donations
- A link to helpful tools and resources to ensure a successful drive
- Access to more than 1,500 nonprofit partners across the United States, so you can find a local agency that will distribute the coats you collect to people in your community
Three Easy Steps To Success!
Follow the 3 easy steps below to make planning and holding your coat drive a breeze! Already know where you’re headed? Jump to Step 1, Step 2, or Step 3
Step 1 – Plan & Register
Choose the dates of your coat drive and the location (or locations) of your collection sites.
A coat drive can last for any amount of time and can be held anytime of year. Most coat drives are held in the fall and winter months. However, our nonprofit partners love to receive coats BEFORE the cold weather sets in, so holding a drive in the summer and early fall months is also great!
Many people organize coat drives around special events/milestones, some even ask for coat donations in lieu of gifts. Here are just some of the reasons our Ambassadors have held a drive:
Anniversary
Back to School
Bar Mitzvah
Bat Mitzvah
Birthday
Block Party
Book Club
Casual Friday
Corporate Event
Conferences
Confirmation
Corporate Challenge
Holidays
Graduation
Grand Opening
In Memory of
In Honor of
In-Store Sale
Local Event
MLK Day of Service
Mother’s Day Fathers Day
Scout Activity
Service Project
Spring Cleaning
Choose where your coat drive will take place and how many drop-off locations you will have. Many Ambassadors have coats dropped off at their homes, at their school or at their place of employment. Some local businesses or local government offices may also allow you to set up a drop-off location. During registration, you can add up to 5 locations to be added to the map. If you want to register more than five locations, please click here to connect with OWC staff.
Step 2: Promote & Collect
When you register, you will receive a custom coat drive webpage. You can use it to track coat and dollar donations. Share your webpage URL with family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers to spread the word about your drive.
Use the many free tools and resources to help you promote and collect!
Like/Follow One Warm Coat on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and tag us (@onewarmcoat) in your posts using #sharewarmth or #sharingwarmth
Step 3: Sort & Deliver
You’ve collected lots of coats! Now what?
Sort
Sort your coats to make sure they are clean and wearable (please remove any coats that are torn, stained, or dirty and consider taking them to a textile recycling center). Use the Delivery Tags provided to help you organize the coats. Consider adding pocket notes to spread extra love.
Track
Update the coat tracker on your coat drive webpage! From the top bar of your coat drive webpage, click “Coat Totals” to track your coats!
Deliver
It’s time to decide where you will deliver the coats you collected!
- Use the Nonprofit Locator Map to find a One Warm Coat partner agency near you and contact them to ensure they can accept your coats.
- If you cannot find a nonprofit partner near you on the Nonprofit Locator Map, we suggest contacting a local nonprofit such as a food bank or a homeless shelter or a local school.
- If you would prefer to donate your coats to a local nonprofit that is not on One Warm Coat’s Nonprofit Locator Map, that’s fine as long as the coats will be given away for free and without discrimination. Also, please encourage the nonprofit to register to become a member of One Warm Coat’s nonprofit network. (They can access the free registration form here)!