Jack Blatchford is the chief financial officer for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rhode Island in Cranston. Blatchford spoke with Providence Business News about the organization’s concerns of local recyclers profiting over donations, how much for-profit textile recyclers should contribute to charities and whether the nonprofit is looking to expand textile recycling in Rhode Island.
PBN: How much clothing gets recycled at Big Brothers Big Sisters and how much money does that generate for the community?
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BLATCHFORD: In 2019 we collected 4.33 million pounds of cloth. So far in 2022, we have collected 1.8 million pounds. We are seeing the effects of the pandemic now. This, combined with the introduction of for-profit textile recyclers in the area, has resulted in a significant drop in cloth donations.
Over the last five years, the Donation Center Foundation of Rhode Island, a subsidiary of Big Brothers Big Sisters, has raised $545,953 for partner community organizations through cloth collections. The Donation Center also makes up 70% of the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program operating budget.
By operating a social enterprise, Big Brothers Big Sisters can self-fund almost all our administrative costs, so when community members donate funds to us, 100% of the funds go to programming.
PBN: What community programs does that funding support?
BLATCHFORD: When a nonprofit, school, city or town partners with Big Brothers Big Sisters to collect clothing and household items, the Donation Center pays the partner a percentage of the income earned. The remainder of the money earned goes to Big Brothers Big Sisters youth mentoring programs, serving over 200 youths each year.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is proud to partner with 65 nonprofits and cities and towns in Rhode Island. Partners include We Share Hope, Women’s Resource Center, several YMCAs, the town of North Providence, and many more.
PBN: Have there been any concerns about the local recyclers profiting over donations? If so, can you provide examples?
BLATCHFORD: The concerns about for-profit textile recyclers profiting over donations generally come when community members realize that a company that is collecting “donations” of cloth is not a charity.
Most of us believe that if a bin or drop-off site says “donations accepted,” we are donating to charity because you don’t typically donate items to a for-profit. The companies can do this because a nonprofit will allow the company to use its name in return for a small percentage of the money it makes on donations.
These for-profit companies do not have to share their finances publicly but based on our research, we estimate that less than 10% goes to charity on average and the rest goes to the people running the business. Charities agree to this arrangement because it’s a donation, and in most cases, they do not realize the damage being done to the nonprofit textile recyclers. This is why so many charities in Rhode Island partner with our donation center. They want 100% of the money to stay local and benefit charities, not for-profit companies.
PBN: How much of a percentage of its profit do you feel a for-profit textile recycler should contribute to charity?
BLATCHFORD: If a company is stating that it accepts “donations” of cloth and household items, it should then donate 100% of its profits to charity. The community is likely giving the company that product because they believe they are making a donation. In reality, for-profit textile recyclers are giving closer to 8%-10% of their profits to charity and they are keeping the rest for profit. This profit represents millions of dollars each year.
PBN: Is the local nonprofit community looking to expand textile recycling in Rhode Island in the near future? If so, how will that be done?
BLATCHFORD: Big Brothers Big Sisters must expand the Donation Center textile recycling program to sustain and grow our mentoring programs and to continue to support efforts to keep Rhode Island green.
BBBSRI collects an average of 3.5 million pounds of cloth each year, which means BBBSRI keeps this product out of local landfills. We serve 200-plus youths and their families each year and our inquiries continue to grow, particularly as we experience a youth mental health crisis in Rhode Island. We encourage nonprofits and municipalities to reach out about clothing drive fundraisers, which result in an average donation of $1,246 a month to the partner.
In Massachusetts, it is illegal to dispose of textiles and we anticipate this will eventually be the case in Rhode Island. It is more important than ever to get the word out about the service we have provided in Rhode Island for 25 years.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
