Nov 23, 2020

Paper House Productions donates $6 million in craft supplies to NAEIR

Right now, nonprofits across the country are desperately short on all types of resources and supplies. Paper House Productions, a manufacturer of stickers and crafting accessories, is heeding the call for help.

Paper House recently donated $6,000,000 in products—three truckloads full—to NAEIR, Inc., a gifts-in-kind organization that distributes donated corporate goods to worthy nonprofits nationwide.

Paper House’s trucks made their way from Saugerties, New York, where the company is headquartered, to NAEIR’s 450,000 square foot warehouse in Galesburg, Illinois.

While the massive donation is especially needed as the COVID-related downturn continues, it’s by no means the trucks’ first journey to Galesburg. Over the last 22 years, Paper House has donated more than $13,000,000 in goods to NAEIR, including stickers, notecards, magnets, scrapbooking supplies, mouse pads and more.

NAEIR makes these items available to schools, churches, and other nonprofits that need them, making life brighter both for children and the organizations that serve them. Member charities can request them—along with thousands of other useful supplies—at NAEIR.org.

“Donating stock is a great way for us to help others,” said Amy Hernandez-Metcalf, vice president inside sales and customer management, Paper House Productions. “At the same time, it keeps our inventory current and yields a tax deduction, too.”

Historically, Paper House’s donations have been particularly popular with NAEIR’s member schools and teachers, both for craft projects and as student incentives. In addition, students have used the donated notecards to write U.S. soldiers overseas and to learn how to address envelopes.

“The great thing about product philanthropy,” explained Gary C. Smith, president and CEO for NAEIR. “Is that it benefits corporate donors as well as nonprofits.”

For example, due to a little-known piece of tax code, IRC 170(e)(3), corporations can earn a tax deduction up to twice their products’ cost. Under the law, deductions are equal to the cost of the inventory donated, plus half the difference between the cost and fair market price, not to exceed twice the cost.

Therefore, a product that cost $10 to manufacturer and is sold in stores for $30 would generate a $20 tax deduction. That makes gifts-in-kind donations more lucrative (and less laborious) than liquidating, auctioning, or deeply discounting non-selling inventory.

In addition, gifts-in-kind donations help companies protect their brand and products’ value—all while serving those in need.

NAIER, which stands for National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, is the largest gifts-in-kind nonprofit in the U.S. Since it was founded in 1977, NAEIR has redistributed more than $3 billion in products donated by more than 8,000 U.S. corporations. In fiscal year 2020, NAEIR distributed more than $106,000,000 in supplies.

“It’s a win/win all around,” Hernandez-Metcalf noted.

For more information, visit NAEIR.org.