Basic Needs Ministry - The 10 Differences

  1. Compare - Basic Needs' director and staff are unpaid volunteers and personally pay many operating costs in order to keep Basic Needs open. The Director of a Raleigh thrift shop, operating as a charity, took $242,170 in pay and $18,229 in benefits in fiscal year 2002-2003 according to IRS Form 990.
  2. Compare - Basic Needs’ volunteers sort through over 200,000 community donated garments a year to find and keep 28,000 new or like new clothing items on display. High quality excess clothes are stored and provided free to fill needs determined by the community, including foreign humanitarian projects. Most clothing donated to Raleigh's charities is baled and shipped to foreign countries for sale to needy residents.
  3. Compare - Basic Needs ensures dignity by using free clothing gift certificates, which are valued at no less than one set of clothing. Many Raleigh charities that collect and sell clothing do not give any to the needy and others may only issue a voucher for partial payment on one garment.
  4. Compare - Basic Needs permits equal access to its entire displayed clothing inventory (over 28,000 items) to all clients and customers. Some charities restrict needy individuals' access to clothing to the lower quality brands/grades and only a small selection of their clothing.
  5. Compare - Basic Needs does not interview and prequalify needy clients. It does review usage patterns for fraud. There are 270 churches, schools, community organizations, and government agencies that are authorized to distribute Basic Needs free clothing gift certificates.
  6. Compare - Basic Needs does not limit the number of people served in a week, but sends over 16,000 gift certificates to its community partners for use starting January 1 each year. Some charities advertise a limit of 25-30 a week.
  7. Compare - Basic Needs ensures the dignity of its clients by presorting its clothing for quality, professionally displaying them by category and size, and then permitting its client to trash any not meeting high quality standards. Some charities simply accept and pile clothing in the parking lot and let the needy dig through it.
  8. Compare - Basic Needs respects the struggles our folks are having with the high costs of transportation and tries to ensure that any time someone comes to the warehouse, he will find clothing in his size. Most charities do not sort by category and size and Basic Needs is the only one in the area that carries 28,000 clothing items on display.
  9. Compare - Basic Needs provides a dressing room with a mirror for anyone to try on his new clothing in privacy and with security. Many clothing charities do not provide a dressing room.
  10. Compare - Basic Needs is the only regular Triangle United Way referral agency for free clothing in our region, which does not require the parents to take a day off work or the children to miss a day of school. Basic Needs has provided evening and weekend free clothing distribution hours since May 2003 using only volunteer staffing.