Best Practices for Bottle and Can Drives
Non-profit organizations hold can and bottle drives to raise money by asking people and businesses in their community to donate their deposit containers. These fundraisers are a great source of income for nonprofit organizations such as churches, scouting troops, sports teams, PTAs, school marching bands, and more. Here are our suggestions for a successful bottle and can drive.
Your Decision to Hold a Bottle and Can Drive
- Consider talking with another organization that holds successful bottle and can drives to learn and evaluate how the process works.
- If you plan to have a regular monthly drive, select a logical day (e.g., 3rd Saturday).
- Decide on a reasonable amount of time for your drive. Four hours is generally plenty of time, and won’t overburden volunteers.
- Determine a convenient location.
- Determine if you will need storage facilities, and consider garbage removal too.
Tips
- A couple of tables would be handy for you to use.
- Garbage cans should be on hand.
- Volunteers should wear gloves.
- Coffee or water for volunteers is a nice touch.
- Children should get involved!
Content of Advertisements
- Date, time and location of drive. If it is a regular monthly drive, state the day of each month.
- Reason for fundraiser; state the organization’s goals.
- What to bring (e.g., clean, uncrushed, cans, plastic and glass beverage containers that have a 10¢ CT deposit (or “CTRV”) printed on the label, etc.)
Get the Word Out
- Send flyers home with students.
- Put an ad in monthly newsletters or weekly bulletins.
- The week prior, send a notice through the organization’s email system.
- Create sandwich boards and put around town 5 days before drive.
How We can Help
- Your organization may bring the donations to our facility during our regular hours of business, and we will count them and provide you with your refund. However, if time is limited, storage is available on-site. Once we have counted your containers, your refund will be available for pick up, or we can mail a check.
- Alternatively, there are third-party pick-up agents who can come to the site of your drive, pick up your deposit containers, and bring them to our facility on your behalf. You would work directly with the third-party pick-up agent to schedule the pick up and facilitate your refund. All arrangements will be between your organization and the agent. Simple Bottle Return is not responsible for any arrangements or agreements between your organization and the third-party pick-up agent. Contact us if you would like more information.
- Plastic bottles and aluminum cans may be mixed into industry standard bags, which are available at our Bridgeport facility.
- Glass may be put into boxes, cases, or can be put into bins that the third-party pick-up agent can provide.
