Good way to make funds stretch for mission
Good way to make funds stretch for mission
10 August 2018
Major Paul Moulds unpacks some of the goods supplied by Good360, which redirects excess, unwanted or discontinued new stock to not-for-profit organisations.
Since Good360 Australia’s launch in 2015, more than 2,725,000 goods valued at more than $30 million have gone to hundreds of organisations working to assist Australians in need. The Salvation Army is one of them.
Good360 receives donated excess, unwanted or discontinued new stock that Aussie businesses would otherwise send to landfill and redirects it to not-for-profit organisations.
Products are listed on its online store and registered groups can “shop”for products they need, ranging from clothes, shoes, toiletries, toys and furniture. After an annual registration fee, shipping and handling is their only cost.
The Salvation Army’s community services operations manager, Lieutenant Brad McIver, estimates the market-value savings to corps and centres who have registered with Good360 to be around $2.3 million.
“We can save thousands of dollars over the course of a year –or even in one order –that can be redirected to our missional priorities at the local community level,” Lieut McIver says.
“For instance, corps and centres have purchased stationery, crockery, electrical items, bedding, towels and many other items that previously they would have had to purchase at full price. These savings allow us to free up much-needed funds for mission delivery as part of our expression of God’s love for people in our communities.”
Lieut Christopher Ford, the Corps Officer at Gladstone in Queensland, agrees the benefit of Good360 is two-pronged, benefiting those in need as well as supporting the corps’mission work.
“The amount of money we’ve been able to save because we haven’t had to go out and buy stock would be nudging $350,000; we’ve been able to invest that money into other areas such as casework and the Moneycare program we’ve just started,” Lieut Ford says.
“Gladstone is an industrial town that goes through ‘boom or bust’cycles, and currently we’re in a bust, meaning there’s a lot of people with very little who look to us for help.
“We have resources here 24/7 because of our partnership with Good360; today we were talking to people affected by family violence and were able to give them new clothing straight from our stock.”
Major Hilton Harmer, Sydney’s Inner West Corps community outreach support officer, works mainly with asylum seekers, refugees and disadvantaged families.
“Good360 has made a tremendous difference to our ministry because we can buy products at a minimal cost,”he says.
“For a young mum to be able to take home boxes of nappies that have cost us a couple dollars but would have cost her hundreds to buy –you simply can’t put a value on seeing a mother so happy because she doesn’t have to worry about that anymore.”
For further information, go to doorwayscardadmin@aue.salvationarmy or www.good360.org.au
Good360 receives donated excess, unwanted or discontinued new stock that Aussie businesses would otherwise send to landfill and redirects it to not-for-profit organisations.
Products are listed on its online store and registered groups can “shop” for products they need, ranging from clothes, shoes, toiletries, toys and furniture. After an annual registration fee, shipping and handling is their only cost.
The Salvation Army’s community services operations manager, Lieutenant Brad McIver, estimates the market-value savings to corps and centres who have registered with Good360 to be around $2.3 million.
“We can save thousands of dollars over the course of a year – or even in one order – that can be redirected to our missional priorities at the local community level,” Lieut McIver says.
“For instance, corps and centres have purchased stationery, crockery, electrical items, bedding, towels and many other items that previously they would have had to purchase at full price. These savings allow us to free up much-needed funds for mission delivery as part of our expression of God’s love for people in our communities.”
Lieut Christopher Ford, the Corps Officer at Gladstone in Queensland, agrees the benefit of Good360 is two-pronged, benefiting those in need as well as supporting the corps’mission work.
“The amount of money we’ve been able to save because we haven’t had to go out and buy stock would be nudging $350,000; we’ve been able to invest that money into other areas such as casework and the Moneycare program we’ve just started,” Lieut Ford says. 
“Gladstone is an industrial town that goes through ‘boom or bust’cycles, and currently we’re in a bust, meaning there’s a lot of people with very little who look to us for help.
“We have resources here 24/7 because of our partnership with Good360; today we were talking to people affected by family violence and were able to give them new clothing straight from our stock.”
Major Hilton Harmer, Sydney’s Inner West Corps community outreach support officer, works mainly with asylum seekers, refugees and disadvantaged families.
“Good360 has made a tremendous difference to our ministry because we can buy products at a minimal cost,”he says.
“For a young mum to be able to take home boxes of nappies that have cost us a couple dollars but would have cost her hundreds to buy –you simply can’t put a value on seeing a mother so happy because she doesn’t have to worry about that anymore.”
For further information, go to doorwayscardadmin@aue.salvationarmy or www.good360.org.au
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