Yes - this is so true. Some places even try to look like nonprofits but sell the items and only donate some to charity. Thanks for this alert. Also the Charity Navigator is iffy in the way it distributes its rating system. I am also in favor of direct donations. I hope it will become more common.

How do you find your local battered women's shelter? In Los Angeles, they're hard to find. These women escaping their previous lives and all...

I take exception to your comment regarding Planet Aid. Unfortunately, inaccurate reporting and rumors about how this nonprofit operates does a disservice to the organization and your readers/followers. Since 1997 Planet Aid has contributed $70 million to international aid projects on three continents. Yes, it does sell its clothing to raise funds to support health, education, farming, and numerous other programs in 15 developing nations. There is a misconception that donated clothes should not be sold to overseas wholesalers or distributors. Goodwill and Salvation Army routinely sell the majority of what they collect to recycling companies abroad. That is a fact. Only 20% of what is donated in the U.S. actually gets sold in thrift stores - the rest is sold overseas where there is a demand for used garments. Hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of jobs are created through the resale of clothing. The re-sale of used clothing is a $1 billion global enterprise, supplying jobs for one-person shops to thriving local businesses. Several well-documented studies on the positive value of selling clothes vs. dumping them for free have been prepared. Re-sale of clothes provides international non-profits the ability to fund programs that provide food, medication, schools, clinics, and a host of other much needed programs. Lastly, 85% of all used clothing in the U.S. is thrown away - only 15% is recycled, the rest goes directly to landfills or industrial incinerators. Yet, 70% of the world's population continue to rely primarily on used clothes to dress themselves. Refer to http://www.smartasn.org/ for the statistics above. Collecting used clothing that our U.S. population no longer needs or wants and giving them a second life through jobs and commerce is a substantial benefit for those that must survive on less than $2 a day.

@Boulderrunner - that's all well and good, but it's not at all obvious at the dropoff station. Yes, people could go to the website, but even that does not give full disclosure in a concise manner right off the bat. A large sign at the dropoff station would go a long way towards making donors trust the organization, instead of seeming like they're masquerading as a clothes donation nonprofit that some people may assume helps local families.

@ galaxiekat: Go to the local social services department. They have access to that information. They can not give you the names & locations of the safe houses (obviously) but they can put you in touch with the organization officials who will take the items for you. Also, some churches can pass those things on for you to battered women's shelters. Something people who want to donate to women's shelters should remember: The women often need "professional" attire so as to be able to go out and job search. Donations of old, torn, stained, and shabby clothing do not help much when one is trying to not only rebuild a self esteem, but to go out & look presentable in the work world- a place many of them have been out of for a long time.

Thanks, BoulderRunner, for your comment. It sums up exactly what I would've posted if I'd gotten there first. I feel this post, and a few of the comments, is a little patronizing towards those in poverty. Getting used clothing does not do anything to help their situation! If someone only needs clothing, the small amount mentioned that DOES get distributed will certainly fill the need in the US. Most "needy" people here need assistance with housing, health care and medicine, education/training, childcare, etc. way before they need free clothing (especially since there are so many places like Old Navy or Kmart where a whole week's worth of outfits can be had for less than $50).

Even Goodwill, one of the "vetted" organizations mentioned, does not exist to put your old clothing on needy people's backs. They sell the stuff to A) raise money for workplace training programs and B) to provide gainful employment in their shops and warehouses to those who would not otherwise qualify for competitive jobs because of undereducation or disabilities. Look at their mission page! http://www.goodwill.org/about-us/our-mission/ No where does it say that the stuff you donate gets sent to needy people.

I imagine the other organizations, save Dress for Success, are the same. Now, if you have some really nice career wear that you bought but just don't like anymore or it doesn't fit anymore, please consider that organization (Dress for Success). They really do go to "closets" where people on their way up, careerwise, can go pick out clothing for job interviews or new jobs. Anything else you may have, like used t-shirts, jeans, casual clothing, keep giving them to PlanetAid or Goodwill! The funds raised by selling them will go a lot further towards tackling the ROOT CAUSES of poverty, instead of just addressing one small need.

Oh and to the author, it's nice you have a cleaning lady and give your used clothing to her. I'm sure she'd prefer you buy less clothing for your family and give her a raise, instead.

Thank you for the article.

I had already stopped donating clothes to Goodwill when I found they were sold overseas and instead started donating clothes to local shelters.

Planet Aid's website sounds arrogant enough to presume that if they didn't take my gently-used clothes, they would be trashed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_Aid

I personally prefer to have items REUSED locally instead of directly recycled because REUSING is better for the environment and uses less resources.

the global resale of clothing has also put many local tailors, seamstresses and small business owners out of work.

I don't donate to Goodwill either: the stores in my area charge, in my opinion, an awful lot for clothing they got for free. There's a church-based thrift store in town & they use their money for community service such as holiday meals. Certain items, like career clothing, I take to the battered women's shelter, because our local Dress for Success is only accepting items in certain sizes.

Typically with any domestic abuse situation the people to contact are at the Domestic Violence Center. Whether you go in or call (they prefer that you call,) they can tell you where to take your clothing and what to do with it. They take more than clothing too like cars and necessities and toys and linens. And whoever said that women who've been in a Domestic Violence situation don't need any other clothing than career wear is wrong. Some of these people leave with only the clothing on their back. Many of these people have children too so it's not just women's clothing that is needed. Find your local Food Pantry or Community Action Program since many times the organization that handles food distribution handles the clothing program also. The Community Action Program is more in touch with a variety of local programs and organizations and are helpful too.
There are MANY MANY articles on the duplicities of Planet Aid. I would not defend them personally. I also recommend every one I know to NOT give their donations to them. Going local helps your community. Just because this is America does not mean people are not starving or homeless or poverty stricken. I have been there and it is insulting to not address our problems here in the United States before trying to become heroes somewhere else. If you want to defend something worthwhile, defend our human service programs. And unless you have been poor, are poor or work intimately with the poor don't ever think you know anything about being poor. Being poor is not a crime, it's a condition.
And to close I remind everyone to use your head, don't be lazy, look at who or what you are giving to.