Gifts in kind

Gifts in kind, also referred to as in-kind donations, is a kind of charitable giving in which, instead of giving money to buy needed goods and services, the goods and services themselves are given. Gifts in kind are distinguished from gifts of cash or . Some types of gifts in kind are appropriate, others are not. Examples of in-kind gifts include goods like food, clothing, medicines, furniture, office equipment, and building materials. Performance of services, such as building an orphanage, providing office space or offering administrative support, may also be counted as in-kind gifts.

While many attest to the benefits of in-kind over cash gifts, others have argued for their disadvantages, particularly in the context of disaster relief.

Many donated goods are either second hand or otherwise surplus. If not donated to people who need them, they might otherwise end up in a landfill. Thus, it is argued that gifts in kind reduce resource use and pollution. This provides a means, particularly for corporations, of doing social good with things that would otherwise be a liability.

During disasters and other humanitarian crises, companies and individuals often want to help with the disaster relief operations. Some people have argued that giving goods that are already at hand is more cost effective for the donor than giving money to buy these same goods, thus reducing the cost of buying the goods afresh, particularly in the face of shortages.

Helping with longer term development in impoverished or otherwise distressed areas is a high priority for governments and large NGOs. It is argued that gifts in kind can be a significant component of a larger humanitarian development strategy.

It has been argued that donated goods are much less susceptible to becoming graft because physical goods are more tangible than money.

However, the argument may be reversed in the modern context, now that there exist mobile phone-based payment mechanisms such as m-Pesa that have been used successfully for cash transfer programs, making cash transfers less dependent on intermediaries than the shipping of physical goods.

...
Wikipedia