TIP policy: distribution of donations and disposal of assets

1. As part of our work to support and empower the communities we partner, with the particular goal that families will be in a position to be able to send their children to school, we gladly accept donations of shoes, clothes and other items that give direct benefit to people in the worst conditions. Occasionally – for example when a new family arrives without basic possessions, or suffers a great loss through fire – we will if we have them distribute a few basic household goods. We also continue to benefit from very generous donations of equipment to help the running of the NGO – administrative or educational supplies or equipment, for example.

2. All such donations are very gratefully received, and we try to ensure that the best possible use is made of them and that donations reach the people who need them most. At the same time, as an NGO our principal focus is empowerment and education for the community, and we ask donors to understand that certain items may not be useable or appropriate.

3. All donations are recorded. Our team member responsible for clothing distribution maintains an overview of the conditions and needs of individual families. Shoes and clothes are distributed based on a clear identification of need, and the distribution is registered. (We work carefully to avoid any suggestion of preferential treatment beyond the targeted alleviation of clear need, and to avoid donations becoming a source of tension.)

4. We maintain a ‘register of assets’, and any significant equipment donated for our administrative or educational use as an NGO will be added to this.

5. Items that cannot be distributed in line with the above principles, equipment donated for the NGO that can not be used, and used items that are no longer useful but still have value, will be sold locally at local market rate, and the money will be given to the TIP administrative office for the fund that we maintain for basic medical support to community members in need. The sale and the transfer of money will be recorded.

6. The assessment of need, and of the usefulness of a particular item, is in the end subjective. The Board will monitor the proper implementation of this policy, but will not normally discuss individual donations or disposal of assets.