About AlchemList
Mission
AlchemList is dedicated to raising the visibility of non-profit organizations through their wish lists, saving landfill space (and closet space!) by promoting reuse, and building, strengthening, and transforming communities through in-kind (item) donation.
What We Do
AlchemList is a service dedicated to:
- Helping de-clutter (donors organization yields strong organizations) or shop for good.
- Raising the visibility of non-profit organizations and their wish lists.
- Saving landfill space (and closet space!) by promoting reuse.
- Strengthening and building community; transforming communities through donation.
AlchemList centers around a website freely available to anyone with internet access that (as simply as item, zip, search) helps people with an item to donate find non-profits near them that are in need of that item.
At AlchemList, we want you to be able to donate stuff to the non-profit of your choice! Have a soft spot for women's organizations? Why not donate that sweater that is just taking up space and collecting dust in your closet to Jubilee Women's Center. Bought a new towel set? Donate your old one to an animal rescue organization near you such as Ferret Shelter Northwest. Just painted your fence and not sure what to do with the leftovers? Why not help Tolerance Minnesota achieve their mission of diversity. After all, our mission is to use the internet to help non-profits (especially small ones) get the resources they need and to help you to have a choice, to allow you to quickly and easily find a good home for your no-longer wanted stuff. Clean out your closet. Save landfill space. Shop responsibly for a cause. Use AlchemList.org to donate to an organization near you. Together we can strengthen and transform our communities one donation at a time!
How AlchemList Works
In-Kind Donations:
Non-profits provide a description of who they are, what items they need, and a link to their website. People wishing to donate items search AlchemList to discover which non-profits need what items. Once they find a non-profit, he or she delivers (via foot, bike, bus, vehicle, or other transport mode) the item to the non-profit of their choice. In some cases, the non-profit may even pick the item up! A bond is formed. Now the person knows what that non-profit does and what they need so he or she can keep them in mind the next time they come across that item.
Scavenger Hunts:
At AlchemList, we strive to help non-profits get the in-kind donations they need while at the same time making donating fun. To this end, we host and facilitate scavenger hunts.
What's in a name? Where does the name AlchemList come from?
The name AlchemList plays on the term alchemy which dates back over 2500 years and refers to "both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties." Alchemists were best known for transforming common metals into gold. Common to valuable. Although at AlchemList, we don't do make any claims to exchange immortality for your donation, we do believe that we can do our part to promote reuse and to help the non-profits that are the alchemists in their own way, transforming community, get the items they need to do their magic. We might even go so far as to say that we believe that by helping one another and connecting as a community, we can feel for a brief moment what immortality might feel like.
AlchemList transforms trash to treasure
AlchemList saves landfill space (and closet space) by promoting and facilitating reuse. We make it easier to find and donate new and like new items to a non-profit organization in your community.
AlchemList transforms consumerism to more sustainable hunting-gathering for the communal good
Studies show the psychological benefit of shopping. Shopping helps the economy, even more so when that shopping is done at locally owned businesses. AlchemList provides a win-win situation by helping casual shoppers and shopaholics alike share their seasonal bounty with a favorite cause. Shoppers still benefit from all the fun of shopping: looking for deals, putting items in the shopping cart, the smiling approval of the cashier at the checkout but with the added benefit of being able to then drop those items (or the items those items are replacing) off at a non-profit near you! Whether donating the new items purchased or following the one-in one-out mantra and re-homing an item no-longer needed or wanted to make room for the new, AlchemList can help you transform your community one donation at a time!
AlchemList transforms communities
AlchemList helps non-profits get the item donations they need, freeing those non-profits to do what they do best to improve their community. AlchemList connects donors to non-profits, forging enduring relationships and extending each community member's sense of who is part of their community.