Thank you for your interest in organizing a coat drive with One Warm Coat.
The need for coats is great, but thanks to the thousands of volunteers who hold coat drives each year, hundreds of thousands of children and adults receive coats each winter.
Using this guide, you will determine:
- When and where you will hold your drive
- How you will promote your drive
- Which nonprofit partner you will deliver your coats to
We will provide you with:
- An email Welcome Packet
- A personal coat drive web page to promote your drive and accept dollar donations
- Access to many free tools and resources
- Access to our Online Store
- A database of 1,400+ nonprofit partners across the United States in need of coats
Follow 6 Easy Steps To Success
Follow the 6 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, Step 3, Step 4, Step 5, Step 6
Step 1 – Plan Your Drive
You will choose the dates of your coat drive, the location or locations of your collection bins and if you are hosting the drive in honor of a special occasion.
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. Consider holding your drive in the summer and early fall months.
Many people organize coat drives around special events, some even ask for coat donations in lieu of gifts. Here are just some of the reasons our organizers have held a drive:
Birthday
Spring Cleaning
Bar Mitzvah
Bat Mitzvah
Scout Activity
MLK Day of Service
Ugly Sweater Day
New Years
Confirmation
Block Party
Grand Opening
Anniversary
Christmas
Company Event
Service Project
Community Impact
Casual Friday
Book Club
In Memory of
Cause Marketing
In-Store Sale
Graduation
Back to School
Local Event
Corporate Challenge
Corporate Social Responsibility
Thanksgiving
Conference
Employee Engagement
Mother’s Day Fathers Day
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. Each location that you would like displayed on the Coat Drive Map will need separate registrations. If you’d like to register more than one coat drive, please click here.
Step 2: Register Your Drive
When you are ready, you will register your coat drive with us and become an official Coat Drive Ambassador! We will email you a Welcome Packet and provide you with access to our online store and many free tools and resources.
Here’s what you will need to know when you are ready to register:
The dates of your coat drive
The location of your coat drive
A Unique Email Address:
Each coat drive registration requires a unique email address. This email should belong to the main contact person for your coat drive. If you want to register more than one coat drive, please click here.
Step 3: Promote & Launch
It’s easy to promote your coat drive and let your community know you are collecting coats using the many free tools and resources provided along with your personal coat drive webpage.
- You will receive a link to your personal coat drive website after you register. This page allows you to promote the details of your drive and track coat and dollar donations in real time. Share this URL with your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to spread the word about your drive.
- Like/Follow One Warm Coat on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- You will receive access to many free Tools & Resources (like a goal thermometer, flyers and graphics) as well as a link to One Warm Coat’s Online Store for bigger purchases like collection bins.
Step 4: Sort, Count & Report
It’s important to check the quality of the coats you’ve collected and count them!
Once your drive is over, sort your coats to make sure they are clean and wearable (please discard any coats that cannot be worn – consider taking them to a textile recycling center). Use the Delivery Tags provided to help you organize the coats before you deliver them. Consider adding pocket notes to spread extra love in each coat donation.
Report your coat totals! The report tallies, so you can report your coat totals as often as you’d like. It’s so important for your impact to be counted!
- Celebrate your coat drive by sharing pictures, videos and stories from your drive on social media: @onewarmcoat #no1cold #sharingwarmth or by email at drives@onewarmcoat.org.
- Use the Celebration Press Release provided in Ambassador Resources to tell your community about the success of your drive!
- Submit any dollar donations you’ve received online or by mail to One Warm Coat, 2443 Fillmore St, #380-5363, San Francisco, CA 94115 (please don’t mail cash!).
Step 6: Deliver
You will collect and sort coats and the nonprofit partner you select will distribute the coats to the children and adults they serve. Please be sure that coats are clean and wearable before delivering them.
Once your drive is complete, you will decide where you will deliver the coats you collected. Use the Nonprofit Locator Map to find an approved Nonprofit Partner near you (One Warm Coat does not pick up coats, but some partners do. Please call the partner to make arrangements).
We have one rule for One Warm Coat drives — the coats must be give away for free and without discrimination.
If you would prefer to work with a nonprofit organization you already know – that’s great! Please ask them to register with One Warm Coat, so we can send more Ambassadors and coats to them.
Please contact the Nonprofit Partner you’ve selected before you deliver the coats to ensure they will be able to accept the coats.
