How to Donate Running Shoes: The Ultimate FAQ Guide
Did you know that 300 million pairs of sneakers wind up in a landfill every year? To make matters even worse, more than 600 million people in the world don’t own a pair of shoes. So that leaves the question—what should you do with your used running shoes?
Short answer: donate them. Your pre-loved sneakers can do a world of good for those in need AND allow you to raise funds for any cause. Sound too good to be true? Follow this guide and we’ll cover all the questions you might have, including:
- How can I donate running shoes?
- Why should I partner with Sneakers4Good to donate my running shoes?
- How can I collect running shoes to donate?
- How can donating running shoes support my cause?
You can donate or repurpose your athletic shoes using a number of different channels, but Sneakers4Good can help you raise funds, guide you through the process with step-by-step resources, and offer a knowledgeable, around-the-clock customer service team.
Plus, we’ve helped customers donate over 15 million pairs of sneakers worldwide and raised more than $16 million. Ready to get started? Let’s dive in!
How can I donate running shoes?
Getting started is incredibly easy for any individual or organization—you don’t have to be a sports-related organization to take advantage of this donation opportunity. The process is simple:
Step 1: Contact Sneakers4Good for a dedicated sneaker recycling kit.
Sneakers4Good will provide a pre-paid shipping bag for you to fill with your collected sneakers. Roughly 10-15 sneakers will fit in each bag, but make sure the sneakers have their laces tied together or are rubber-banded together before going into the bag. This will ensure that pairs of athletic shoes stay together.
With Sneakers4Good, there is absolutely no charge to you when you receive this bag or when you ship it after you fill it up.
Step 2: Collect gently worn used and new athletic shoes from your community
Most people have garages and closet floors filled with their previous running shoes. Whether they grew out of the last pair or wanted to upgrade to the newest model, the sneakers are no longer valuable to them. But they can be useful to you!
Encourage your community to turn over their gently worn, used or new running shoes. Likely, they’re ready to clear up space in their home and would be willing to help a good cause.
Step 3: Ship the shoes in the pre-paid shipping bags.
Once you have collected the donated running shoes from your community, all you have to do is take your bag to the nearest UPS store. You can easily ship the bag, free of charge, and the sneakers will go to the Sneakers4Good warehouse to be repurposed.
Step 4: Receive your check!
Once you ship out your collected sneakers, you will receive a check from Sneakers4Good. The amount of money you earn is dependent on how many athletic shoes you collect—the more sneakers you collect, the more money you receive!
Hosting a running shoe drive fundraiser is an easy and effective way to raise money. In just 4 steps, you can do good for others while also benefiting a good cause.
Why should I partner with Sneakers4Good to donate my running shoes?
Now that you know how easy it is to get started with donating your sneakers, you might find yourself in one of two camps—either ready to collect athletic shoes or a bit hesitant to get started.
If you find yourself in the first camp, you can jump to our sneaker collection section. If you identify with the second camp, let’s explore why Sneakers4Good is the best place to donate your running shoes.
With Sneakers4Good, you can rest assured that your gently worn, new or used sneakers will be put to good use through our sustainable mico-enterprise model.
Micro-enterprises are small businesses, typically owned and operated by families of 1-2 people in developing countries. Due to the systemic poverty in these nations, working-age adults must create their own job opportunities. Through our sneaker recycling program, we are supporting over 4,000 families in devastated economies. Check out our video to learn more:
Additionally, Sneakers4Good has dedicated services that stand out from other sneaker recycling programs. Here’s a side-by-side comparison:
Sneakers4Good’s key advantages include:
- Prepaid shipping bags
- Free display and collection boxes
- Partner with local and national marathons
- CSR (corporate social responsibility) focus
- Weekly check-ins
- Custom and pre-made marketing materials including flyers and a press release
- Dedicated coaching team
- Five-star review from the BBB (Better Business Bureau)
- A network of over 20,000 recycling partners nationwide
- 24/7 live customer service
Other sneaker recycling programs can omit key marketing resources, make you pay upfront fees, and resell your sneakers on eBay. Our team empowers you to raise funds quickly and honestly while feeling good about your impact.
How can I collect running shoes to donate?
Aside from leveraging dedicated marketing resources like Sneakers4Good’s flyers and press releases, you can enhance your efforts with a dedicated shoe collection event.
When you are thinking about what kind of event to organize, consider events with an underlying theme of physical activity or exercise. These events are likely to bring in members of your community who appreciate the value of a good running shoe.
Consider events such as:
Walkathon
Walkathons are the perfect community event to bring people together for a sports activity. Since it does not require a lot of technical or athletic skills, this event will bring out a wide range of community members with all levels of activity.
Having more people come to your event from a wide range of backgrounds is the best way to ensure you gain awareness—and funds—for your organization. Make sure you plan your event for a mild, temperate season so that more people will feel inclined to join you. It doesn’t hurt to have an indoor location on standby if you need to escape the rain. No matter what happens, you want to encourage people to stay at your event and enjoy themselves.
When you send out your invitations and promote your event, you can encourage people to donate running shoes or even the athletic shoes they walked in that day!
5K or 10K run
Many 5K or 10K charity runs provide the opportunity for participants to donate when they register for the event. Do something to set yourself apart and choose a more unique way of soliciting donations by requesting that participants give an extra pair of running shoes to help your organization.
Luckily, many people come to 5K or 10K runs simply to spectate or cheer on their friends and loved ones. That opens up another group of people who you can encourage to donate their athletic shoes.
With these events, you can appeal to friends, family, and spectators, as well as the runners themselves—after all, why limit yourself or your fundraising campaign?
Obstacle course event
For some people, the idea of running a race is their nightmare, but introduce the concept of an obstacle course, and they are sold. This idea incorporates an element of fun and excitement that draws in more of a crowd.
People of all ages are interested in the challenges offered by an obstacle course. You can set up activities, such as:
- Barbed wire low crawl
- Rope climb
- Sandbag carries
- Cargo net climb
- Ice water swim
- Monkey bars
Your community will love the challenge of running an obstacle course, which will bring out an enthusiastic and eager audience. Capitalize on their enthusiasm and encourage them to donate their gently worn, used and new sneakers at your event.
K-12 school partnership
Partner with a local school in your community and collect athletic shoes from students and faculty. Any parent can attest to the fact that their children grow out of their sneakers at a seemingly unbelievable rate.
So many schools have athletic programs that would be the perfect opportunity to collect sneakers. You can set up a collection booth outside the school gym and collect gently worn, used and new running shoes that they would be more than happy to donate for a good cause.
You can also coordinate with the school to set up collections in students’ homerooms or the administrative office so that you can include the entire school. Students will be able to donate the athletic shoes they have outgrown or sneakers they no longer wear with ease.
Dance marathon
Have you ever wanted to dance for 24 hours straight? Probably not, but some people find this event to be the perfect mix of entertaining and challenging.
To host this event, you will need an indoor facility to accommodate the dancers and a speaker system to rock the roof off of the building. You can also sell refreshments and charge a fee for song requests to boost your revenue.
Let people come out and show off their slick dance moves with their friends, and encourage them to bring their gently worn, used and new athletic shoes so that someone else can have some new sneakers to boogie in if they’d like.
Field day
Who remembers their elementary school field days as the best day of the year? It’s okay, you can admit it. So, why don’t we hold them anymore for older kids and adults?
You can fill this gap in your community and enable community members to be transported to the carefree days of their childhood by playing outdoor games with their friends.
Games you can play include:
- Water balloon toss
- Egg race
- Three-legged race
- Tug o’ war
- Family relay race
- Hula hoop marathon
These games will get community members to actively participate in community events with a smile on their faces. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to reach such a wide range of ages—and shoe sizes—with a community field day as entire families come out to participate. Of course, you can also sell concessions, branded merchandise, and tickets for games to maximize your revenue.
Community March Madness
March Madness isn’t just for professional basketball players now. Host a weekend-long competition in the style of March Madness to encourage community members to participate.
Instruct interested community members to form teams of two, three, or five. Then, you can hold tournament-style games all day or weekend to hurry the elimination process. Make sure you sell tickets for each game, concessions, and merchandise to raise money.
Events such as this bring to the forefront the sporty individuals in your community. The team members are likely avid sports fans and recreational athletes who would have gently worn, used and new sneakers at the ready for donation.
Mud run
If you have ever slogged through the mud in your running shoes, you may know the dread you feel at the prospect of washing all the dirt off your sneakers. When you hold a mud run fundraiser for your community, you can benefit from the runners’ intense desire to get rid of their dirty athletic shoes.
However, with a little care, donated running shoes will be ready to be repurposed.
Note that when you are hosting a mud run event, Sneakers4Good will provide a green mesh bag for your collection. This will help bypass the dreaded feeling of reaching into a mud-soaked bag and give the running shoes a little room to breathe.
Your organization can host a fun, unique event and easily encourage individuals to donate athletic shoes to your running shoe drive fundraiser.
How can donating running shoes support my cause?
You’ve seen how donating running shoes can help others in communities of need, but how can running an athletic shoe donation drive further your cause? Here are a few ways running retailers, communities, individuals and more can benefit:
Running Retailers
Running retailers and gyms especially can benefit from hosting an athletic shoe donation. With Sneakers4Good’s trade-in and trade-up program, retailers can give back to the community, promote corporate social responsibility, and fund events. Here’s how it works:
- Your store collects running shoes from customers to incentivize trading in and trading up. These can include customer returns, factory defects, sales samples, hash lots, and overstock.
- Next, fill each pre-paid shipping bag with 15-20 pairs, seal it off, and drop it off at a designated carrier. Shipping is covered by Sneakers4Good.
- Your team will then receive a check once your bag is received and processed. You can choose and change who the check is made out to at any time, so your store can support causes that matter to you.
For example, you could put the funds toward supporting local athletes, enhancing your marketing materials, or finalizing the details of your next sponsored community race. Wherever you decide to place your funds, you can be confident that you are promoting sustainable habits while making choices that benefit both your local and global community.
Business Causes
According to a recent study, 77% of consumers are motivated to purchase from companies committed to making the world a better place. By running a shoe recycling campaign, your business or corporation can take action and showcase your commitment to CSR.
You can do this by collecting shoes from your professional community and using the funds to support a charity of your choice. By doing so, you will promote:
- Employee engagement. Improve employee morale and boost team-building by hosting an athletic shoe donation drive. Employees will enjoy a sense of pride from working for a company that prioritizes social responsibility and backs the causes its employees care about.
- Customer retention. Promoting recycling and sustainability aligns with global trends and can set your company apart from others. Practicing environmentally friendly habits like donating athletic shoes can attract and retain sustainably conscious customers.
- Community outreach. By supporting local charities or nonprofit organizations with your fundraising efforts, you’ll reap the benefits of community outreach. It’s an excellent way to engage customers and build positive brand awareness to indicate that your business cares about more than just profit.
Running a sneaker donation drive will differentiate your company from others while promoting social good in your community and office spaces.
Community Causes
You can use the before-mentioned sneaker collection events to rally your community together, collect shoes, and make a meaningful impact. For instance, your athletic shoe drive could support initiatives such as:
- Providing disaster relief. Donating shoes for community causes can provide urgent relief when disaster strikes. For example, the outcomes of neighborhood flooding or tornado damage can be better managed with the extra funding from a sneaker donation drive.
- Encouraging community spirit. Whether it’s your neighborhood HOA or local running club, joining forces with your community to raise funds can further a collective community spirit. Plus, with Sneakers4Good’s quick turnaround times, you’ll be able to quickly fund the projects you care about.
- Supporting meaningful projects. Whether it’s local homelessness outreach, youth engagement opportunities, or conservation projects, the funding you receive can be put to good use to better your community.
Because an athletic shoe donation drive goes beyond just collecting shoes and invites the community to get involved, it’s the perfect opportunity to support your local causes.
School Causes
School funding may not always be reliable. That’s why you must be open to new fundraising opportunities such as a sneaker collection drive. And, since kids already outgrow shoes so quickly, this is a reliable option for schools looking to raise money quickly.
Use events like field days, classroom competitions, and 5Ks to get families involved and spread the word. You can also set up collection boxes in classrooms to remind students to bring in their gently worn, new and used sneakers the next school day. With increased funding, you’ll be able to improve afterschool programs, athletic programs, and learning environments as a whole.
Individual Causes
Sometimes you need money to support more personal causes. For times like these, an athletic shoe donation drive is a great way to gather support from others as you’re not directly asking for a donation. Instead, you’re asking if they’d be willing to part with their gently used sneakers! For instance, you might use your collected sneakers to account for:
- Paying medical expenses
- Supporting a charitable cause close to you
- Building an emergency fund
- Saving for college tuition
- Starting a small business
- Taking a dream vacation
- Adopting a new pet
Whatever your goals are, the funds from a shoe donation drive can help bridge the gap and get you up and running without asking others to go too far out of their way.
Conclusion + Additional Resources for Donating Running Shoes
Donating running shoes can create positive ripple effects for your local community, the environment, and global communities. You can also raise funds for all manner of causes without ever having to ask for monetary donations!
That’s why you should skip the landfill and partner with a shoe recycling provider like Sneakers4Good to jumpstart your sneaker donation process. If you’d like to learn more, check out these additional resources:
- What to do With Old Running Shoes: 18 Eco-Friendly Ideas: For more environmentally friendly shoe recycling ideas, check out this list for top ideas.
- How to Start a Running Club: The Ultimate Guide: Running clubs are great places to build community, raise funds, and get exercise. Learn how to start one in this ultimate guide!
- Give Your Old Shoes New Life: How to Recycle Sneakers: Looking for more sneaker recycling advice? Check out this guide for the top places to recycle your used athletic shoes.