Welcome to the Pass It On Webinar: Locating Equipment www.passitoncenter.org info@passitoncenter.org Work Smarter – Not Harder! Agenda • Be Careful What You Ask For… • Tips for Accepting (& Refusing) Donated Equipment • Strategic Partnerships to Consider • Marketing Ideas – Host an Event – create energy and awareness • Your Successful Practices & Lessons Learned Be Careful What You Ask For… White Elephant Lessons It's not easy to turn down free stuff, especially when it comes to DME & AT equipment. As your efforts grow and you become more well known - you may receive offers from individuals and companies that want to pass on their old equipment to your organization. Many of these donations will likely include equipment that is broken, outdated, or missing vital parts. Other equipment may be in great condition-- but still unsuitable for your organization's needs. Be Careful What You Ask For… Donated equipment is only useful to your organization if it is compatible with your program’s needs and consumer’s request. Before your organization considers accepting any donated equipment, take stock of the equipment your program has and decide what you need. Accept broken equipment only if you are certain that your tech-support person can fix it, if you can use it for parts, if you can sell it to raise funds for your program, or if you plan to use it for training. Consider the age of the equipment. For example, most computers don't last more than seven years, so seek only equipment that is newer than five years old. Any equipment more than five years old has a relatively short amount of life left in it. Be Careful What You Ask For… TIP: If an individual or a corporation approaches your organization about equipment donations, knowing how to gracefully decline will save you the time and expense of having to recycle unwanted equipment. Six Tips for Accepting (and Refusing!) Donated Equipment 1. If you are unsure if a piece of donated equipment would be useful to your organization, refer donors to a refurbisher or a recycler. To help prospective hardware donors better understand what equipment to donate and what to recycle, refer them to Do the PC Thing -- or print it out and give them a copy to keep in their offices. You can also send donors to TechSoup's list of recyclers or to the Microsoft Authorized Refurbisher Program. - Modified from Jim Lynch Six Tips for Accepting (& Refusing!) Equipment con’t. 2. If you need low-cost equipment, seek donations from a reputable refurbisher. One way to find donations is through online classified services like Craigslist.org, freecycle.org, or a local paper -- but you may end up with lots of unusable equipment. Rather than soliciting or accepting donations directly from individuals or businesses, contact a refurbisher. Going through a reputable refurbisher improves your chances of finding good equipment in working order. - Modified from Jim Lynch Six Tips for Accepting (& Refusing!) Equipment con’t. The following resources and organizations can help you find discounted or refurbished computer equipment: • The National Cristina Foundation • TechSoup's list of refurbishers • TechSoup's Recycled Computers Initiative • Dell's TechFoundation - Modified from Jim Lynch 3. If you accept a donation, be sure to get the parts and manuals, too. TIP: Minimize your exposure to liabilities by maintaining a systematic inventory of any computers, software, documentation, and licenses you receive. When accepting a donated computer, be sure to obtain all of the original disks, as these contain device drivers and technical manuals that you may need to make future repairs. Additionally, the original disks and manual often make a software transfer legal. For example, Microsoft's software manuals usually contain a Certificate of Authenticity (COA), which is required for each Windows operating system installation. - Modified from Jim Lynch Six Tips for Accepting (& Refusing!) Equipment con’t. Six Tips for Accepting (& Refusing!) Equipment con’t. 4. Remember the accessories. Don't forget about the - Modified from Jim Lynch • keyboard • monitor • mouse • Printer • modem, or • any other accessories you need Six Tips for Accepting (& Refusing!) Equipment con’t. 5. Delete personal information on all equipment – including PCs and PDAs. If the donor has not already done so, make sure that you do this. For PCs - Special disk-wiping software like Killdisk or Nuke -- both of which are free -- can come in handy for this. Visit TechSoup's Security and Privacy Free Downloads section for additional useful utilities. - Modified from Jim Lynch Six Tips for Accepting (& Refusing!) Equipment con’t. 6. Dispose of your own obsolete equipment responsibly. Find listings of recyclers on Pass It On Center Solutions Site or contact one of the following organizations: - Modified from Jim Lynch • Electronics Recycling • The National Recycling Coalition • The National Safety Council's Electronic Equipment Recyclers • The Electronic Industries Alliance Strategic Partnerships to Consider Are you working with: • Hospitals, • Tourist Attractions, • Airports • Public Schools • Private Schools • Funeral Homes • Hospice Strategic Partnerships to Consider • DME Vendors • Donation Centers • Electronic Stores • Computer Stores • Medicaid • Vocational Rehabilitation • Veterans Administration • Churches & Synagogues • AAA - Care Services • Service Organizations Are you working with: Partners in Your Community Call the Operations Manager at your nearest hospitals. They usually upgrade to stay abreast of the latest technology and may have a basement full of surplus equipment. They are also very good at donating to nonprofits. Call larger law firms in your local area and ask to talk to the computer system manager. They may or may not have one but they use a computer system and quite often have surplus units that are left over from previous upgrades that they "didn't want to part with because they paid so much for them" Modified from Dale Tersey Partners in Your Community Check with local insurance firms with over 20 pr 30 employees. Same situation as the lawyers. Check with the surplus department of the state, City, and County governments to see if they have a preference for nonprofits to get surplus equipment on the same basis as other government agencies. Modified from Dale Tersey Partners in Your Community Check your state’s websites for electronic waste policies and resources. Find and contact e-waste recyclers in your area to see who can meet your disposal needs. • Department of Natural Resources • Surplus • Research disposal and recycling trade organizations to gather information & Become part of the conversation! Have You Checked Surplus? Create a Flyer or Postcard Write up your specific request listing the minimum equipment requirements and what it is needed for and circulate the request in your local Civic Service organizations • Lions • Rotary • Toastmasters • Chamber of Commerce, etc. • Doctor’s offices, • and other places people gather in your community. Low-Cost and Free Postcards online at: Vista Print Place Ads and Success Stories • Obituaries Page in Newspaper or Website • Hospital Newsletters • DME Vendor Newsletters • Earth 911, which powers the nation’s largest environmental web-portal at Earth 911.org and the toll free national recycling hotline 1-800-CLEANUP, provides local recycling locations for electronic waste and more throughout the country. • By entering a zip code, users can find a comprehensive list of recyclable items and locations that accept them in their community. Join a National Earth Day Event Do Equipment Drive & PR! Goodwill – Donation Day at Zoo - 2007 Have You Checked craigslist or Ebay? What AT is Available in Your Community? Have You Placed an Ad for your Program? Can Your Representatives Help with this Effort? TEXAS HUMAN SERVICES • C.S.H.B. 607 • By: Maxey • 4-17-97 • Committee Report (substituted) BACKGROUND • A number of advocacy groups have indicated that there are a number of individuals interested in donating durable medical equipment who have difficulty finding an organization or individual interested in taking the equipment. In addition, there are individuals who do not qualify for state or federal assistance but do not have the funds with which to purchase new equipment. • A central information point would enable individuals to get information on organizations and individuals within their community who are interested in donating or receiving used durable medical equipment. PURPOSE • The purpose of HB 607 is to create a hotline that maintains a listing of durable medical equipment and assistive technology to be donated and provides information on resources in the local community. Section 116.003. Local Organization. • (a) Instructs the commission to encourage the development of local organizations to facilitate the reuse of durable medical equipment. • (b) Directs the commission to provide licensing information to the local organizations who seek such information. Section 116.004. Authority to Contract. • Allows the commission to contract with local organizations and other state agencies to facilitate the reuse of equipment. Section 116.005. Durable Medical Equipment and Assistive Technology Owned by the State. • Requires donated equipment that is owned by the state that is donated to be donated only to a non-profit organization under Chapter 432, Health and Safety Code. Section 116.002. • Durable Medical Equipment and Assistive Technology Listing. • (a) Instructs the Commission to create a listing for durable medical equipment. • (b) Establishes a toll-free telephone number for the listing and directs the Commission to refer individuals to an appropriately licensed non-profit in their local area. • (c) Instructs the commission to design a sticker listing the toll-free number for the medical equipment listing. • (d) Instructs the commission to distribute the sticker to all retailers of durable medical equipment in the state. • (e) Requires all vendors to place the sticker on all equipment sold to individuals. Is Locating Equipment Part Of Your Sustainability Plan? • Self-Assessment Summary—Vision and Results Orientation • Prioritizing Existing Strategies and Activities • YOUR LOGIC MODEL Comments and Discussion Peer-to-Peer Sharing – Let’s Learn from the Experts… You! THANK YOU for Your Time, Ideas and Support!