You could also get some people in your building/neighborhood together to meet the minimum for pick-up. A friend organized with neighbors and now they have a monthly standing date with the Salvation Army.

I tend to do fairly small "mini-cure" purges of clothing, etc., so I just go over to the St. Francis Thrift Shop for two main reasons: I'm lazy and it's closer than the Salvation Army (or anything else) and I have at least a tad more of a comfort level with Catholic institutions than with the Salvation Army.

can someone please make it illegal to say "gently used"?

I will try MaterialforArts. I called yesterday and today the Salvation Army - I have a few large boxes tv set etc, that I would like to donate. They won't come to pick up and were rude... Never calling them again. So I will Materials for the Arts.

Check with your local library, many public libraries will accept book donations.

I'll second Materials for the Arts if you're in NYC. I organized a large office chair donation from my office to them and they were really lovely to work with.

I started seeing large colorful drop-off bins around my 'hood (Harlem/East Harlem) for clothing/shoes. Not sure which organization it belongs to, but they are very convenient for lazy folks like me, since I never have enough stuff to warrant a pick-up from charity organizations.

Try "Hour Children" in Long Island City. They are a wonderful organization.

try nyc.gov's stuff exchange.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/stuffex/html/home/home.shtml

It "offers a quick and simple way for NYC residents to search for places in their neighborhood and throughout the city where they can donate, sell, buy, rent, or repair different types of gently used goods."

you can search for organizations that will pick up stuff too.

if you live in brooklyn st marys is great, they pick up right from your doorstep. :)

718-529-6070

I second Freecycle. It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. You sign up for your city's local group (free) and then simply send an e-mail offering it to members of that local Freecycle group. After that, it's up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to set up a pickup time for passing on the treasure. Their main rule: Everything posted must be free, legal, and appropriate for all ages.

It's a fantastic service, and I am constantly amazed by how eager people are to retrieve what I would otherwise throw out or donate to Salvation Army.

I'll second gemion. I live in Queens and they pick up from my doorstep as well.

Not sure about New York but in Philadelphia both Purple Heart and AACR (American Association for Cancer Research) pick up donations (not furniture though). You leave donations at night at your doorstep for a next day pick-up.

I had to clean out a small studio apartment for an ill relative in less than two weeks. (It was being used as an office so although fully furnished it did not have a ton of stuff). First, I sold as much as I could via Craigslist and flyers, then I freecycled the rest.

Freecycle was AWESOME, much better than trying to give the stuff away free on CL - really nice, appreciative people picked up the stuff within 3 days. But the majority of stuff was actually taken by people who already lived in the building At the end of the two weeks I had made around $600 and given away some larger pieces like a bed and coffee table to people who seemed really psyched to have them.

For books, you also might try the Strand; you could potentially get a little cash that way.

After reading this thread I got in touch with MFA to see if I could donate my Lexmark printer. The response was:

If your printer is not older than 4 years, works fine, has its cable and is ready to operate we would accept it as a donation. Pick-ups require 250 pounds of donation or $1000.00 in value. You may drop it off at the address below my signature any Monday, Wednesday or Friday between the hours of 9:00a and 3:00p.

So, apparently there are some restrictions to what they will accept. Hey, anyone want a printer?