where to seek donation of laptops (bay area)

http://www.worldcantwait.net/

Any suggestions where to find donation of 3 laptops? We are in the SF Bay Area.

We need laptops for a project that can't be done with stationary computers. They need to be at least PIII 700, and have usb. Would be better with floppy and CD burner and ethernet. (Apple g4 would be best but we live in the real world)

We have non-profit status if that helps. Find out more about this powerful project at the bottom of this posting. Looking forward to discussing this exciting project with you. I am including more info about the project below my signature block. Perhaps that all makes a difference in where to ask. No nibbles on Craig's List yet.

Stopping "the most dangerous force that has ever existed" THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT-DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME! launched last Nov. 2, 2005 with the largest school walkouts in 30 years

The World Can't Wait is engaged in stopping "the most dangerous force that has ever existed." We are developing a broad unprecedented mass movement with a strategy based on the principled analyses that the sum of the outrages of the Bush Regime must be fought in their totality and under the rubrics of Crimes Against Humanity and fascism. There is a momentum to this new Bush program which history shows how it can and must be stopped. Put simply in 'the call' of The World Can't Wait: "...We need more than fighting Bush's outrages one at a time, constantly losing ground to the whole onslaught. We must, and can, aim to create a political situation where the Bush regime's program is repudiated, where Bush himself is driven from office, and where the whole direction he has been taking society is reversed."

The way this fascist trend can continue to grow almost un-empeaded in American political life is that it is in the nature of fascism as a social movement to crush opposition in all it's forms. From the start, we have been criticized on the comparison of today's America to 1930's Germany but we make no no bones about it. "People look at all this and think of Hitler — and they are right to do so. The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come. We must act now; the future is in the balance.":

We have studied the recent failures of the progressive wing of the democratic party and the anti-war movement and solved the problem:

We are studying the incapacity of todays college youth to even begin to mount resistance. We have a solution and are launching the youth movement in this country today:

We have begun to look hard at the cynicism and despair holding back all those Americans who must rise to this challenge - but fail to do so. We are engaging this nihilism and have come to the conclusion that what it will take is an urgent unrelenting movement led by people like yourself and broadly from many sectors, a critical mass of leadership in this society of those who understand why the Bush regime must be rejected - to reach a great number and sustain en masse long enough to wake the sleeping giant - with the kind of massive street protest which is only the tip of the iceberg - of a new more principled social direction - of a society brought into sustained opposition against a regime so radical, the direction it is taking the world threatens the global basis of reason and hope. Toward that end, we are engaging people of some prominence in a broad range of fields and professions to support an effort over the next six months toward a national day of resistance one month before the next election:

The Attack on Science you will notice is a prominent 6th point our call to action: "Your government suppresses the science that doesn't fit its religious, political and economic agenda, forcing present and future generations to pay a terrible price."

In the Bay Area, we are working with the Defend Science project led by a young Astro Physics major who might join us Saturday night. He led the most incredible forum lst month on the at UC Berkeley with hundreds of scientists itching for a fight

In New York this month, we held a program with the most important evolutionist in the country.

"When the possibility of far-reaching war crimes and crimes against humanity exists, people of conscience have a solemn responsibility to inquire into the nature and scope of these acts and to determine if they do in fact rise to the level of war crimes " -- from the Charter of the Bush Crimes Commission. We met David at the Standford production of our Bush Crimes Commission University Tour of 'The Tribunal form Crimes Against Humanity of the Bush Administration'. This is our strongest academic outreach program so far.
Thanks!

Don
Fundraising Coordinator
SF Bay Area Chapter
THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT
DRIVE OUT THE BUSH REGIME!

Resist,

As with any ask, you will have most success asking folks who already support your work. There are no silver bullets or magic places when it comes to trying to get free technology stuff!

It can be a lot of work to get donated computers, and a lot of work to make them ready for organizational use. You should consider whether you'd get a better return on your time by asking for the money to buy new or used computers. The answer to that question will depend on who your supporters are and what your development team is like.

Start with your board, volunteers and donors. Ask foundations that fund in your program area. Put up a wish list on your website, and mention your needs in newsletters or other communications you send to stakeholders.

If your organization has a table at events (and assuming this is an important issue for the organization) you should make sure you have a flyer about your need for laptops to give out. If you speak at gatherings of people who support the work you do, mention your need at the end of your talk.

Some people work at companies that replace their computers on a more regular basis than most nonprofits :-), these people may be able to get computers for you from their organization. If this is a likely possibility you should prepare to convince the employer as well as your supporter of your ability to accommodate their needs (such as appropriate assurances about use of the machines, agreement to meet their collection requirements, promises to provide appropriate documentation, clear requirements on what you need and what won't work for you, and whatever other hoops you need to jump through for them). However, with your mission, corporate type donations will probably be harder to come by than for a less controversial NPO.

Finally, if you know a similar NPO that is about to close it's doors, you could ask them if they'd be willing to pass on their machines to you. When NPOs close down, they are obliged to ensure their assets are used to the betterment of their mission as far as possible, so this might be a possibility.

TechSoup has some articles that are worth looking at:
CompuMentor's Recycled Computer Equipment Tips for Schools (also relevant for most NPOs!)
Donated Computers For Nonprofits
Hardware Donation Programs
The last two articles are over 3 years old, so may be a little out of date on specifics.

If you can't find someone to give you computers free, you could try some of the great resources for NPOs to get low fee refurbished computers in the Bay Area. Try out our List of nonprofit Microsoft Authorized Refurbishers (you don't have to go with a Windows machine if you don't need it. But if you need that, these organizations have access to inexpensive Microsoft licensing for the refurbished machines).

Helen

PS Resist - I know you're passionate about your mission, that's why you work for your organization! But it makes it difficult for people to get the most out of these boards if more of your text is about your organization than it is about your NPO tech issue. As a board host I'd like to ask you to keep the mission stuff briefer next time, better yet, simply provide a link to appropriate statements on your org's website. - Thanks!

HelenSeal,
What a wonderful board host to provide such a gracious reply. The review of donation raising principles was really good. -don

I cringe when people try to obtain donated computers for fairly specific needs. That's going to be especially tough with laptops as folks tend to use them or hand them down to other folks they know until they're useless (the laptops ;) or hampered with issues.

What I strongly recommend is that you tally your needs, find the best price on 3 new ones that meet those needs, and then find a donor to cover those costs.

Even if you found a company that gave you some hardware, you'll likely still need software as any company that gives computers away tends to wipe the stuff clean first for their own protection and license issues.

The length, negativity and hostile tone of your post is way beyond the limits of good taste. You will indeed have to get donations from those who feel as you do, since you have alienated everyone else with your vitriol. This forum is about donation ideas, not a free ad space for you to promote a political agenda with lengthly rambling position papers. May you always pay full retail.

I agree with sequimsr. You totally turned my ears and interest OFF once you jumped on your political soapbox. Best of luck in your search for free hardware, but I suggest a subtler approach.

netcop

I am in need of a laptop computer in the West Bloomfield MI area.