Goodwill Industries

In 1902, the Reverend Edgar J. Helms of Morgan Methodist Chapel in Boston started a business called Morgan Memorial as part of his Christian ministry. Helms and his congregation collected used or discarded household goods and clothing from wealthier areas of the city, then trained and hired the unemployed or impoverished to mend and repair them. The products were then redistributed to those in need or kept by those who helped repair them. In 1915, Helms had representatives of a workshop mission in Brooklyn, NY visit the facility so they could learn the innovative programs and operating techniques of the company. Helms was subsequently invited to visit the representatives’ facility. Out of these exchanges came Brooklyn's willingness to adopt and adapt the Morgan Memorial's way of doing things, while Helms was persuaded that "Goodwill Industries”, the name for Brooklyn's workshop, was preferable to the Morgan Memorial name. Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries was created. Along with Brooklyn's interest and ties, this became the foundation on which Goodwill Industries was to be built as an international movement. Goodwill has become an international nonprofit organization that, as of 2016, takes in more than $4.8 billion in annual revenue and provides more than 300,000 people with job training and community services each year. In 1999, George Kessinger, the head of Goodwill of Orange County during this time, started shopgoodwill.org.

As of July 2011, there are 164 full Goodwill members in the United States and Canada. By 2006, Goodwill Industries International had a network of 207 member organizations in the United States, Canada, and 23 other countries. These are each independent social enterprises that operate their own regional Goodwill retail stores and job training programs. Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries, Boston, is the enterprise operated in Boston, where Goodwill was founded.

The clothing and household goods donated to Goodwill are sold in more than 3,200 Goodwill retail stores, on its Internet auction site shopgoodwill.com, and eBay by a number of its regional stores. The largest Goodwill store is in Seattle, spanning 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2), and operated by Evergreen Goodwill, which as 22 locations in Western Washington.

When merchandise cannot be sold at a normal Goodwill store, it is taken to a "Goodwill Outlet" or "Bargain Store" where items are mostly sold by weight, with prices ranging from about $0.49 to $1.89 per pound, depending on the location. The wide selection and massive discounts on a variety of household goods typically attract a fervent following of regular customers, some of whom make a full-time living buying and re-selling goods. Many vendors buy this merchandise in bulk and send the merchandise to third-world countries.

In January 2016, Goodwill Industries of Toronto, Eastern, Central, and Northern Ontario closed its 16 stores and 10 donation centres after 80 years of operations, citing cash problems. The six other Canadian Goodwill Industries Branches remain operational.

Criticism and compensation

Executive compensation

In 2005, Goodwill Industries of the Columbia Willamette (GICW), Goodwill's Portland, Oregon, branch, came under scrutiny due to executive compensation that the Oregon attorney general's office concluded was "unreasonable". The President of the Portland branch, Michael Miller, received $838,508 in pay and benefits for fiscal year 2004, which was reportedly out of line in comparison to other charity executives and placed him in the top one percent of American wage earners. After being confronted with the state's findings, Miller agreed to a 24% reduction in pay, and GICW formed a new committee and policy for handling matters of employee compensation.

A 2013 article on Watchdog.org reported that Goodwill's tax returns showed that more than 100 Goodwills pay less than minimum wage while simultaneously paying more than $53.7 million in total compensation to top executives. Douglas Barr, former CEO of the Goodwill of Southern California, was the highest paid Goodwill executive in the country. He received total compensation worth $1,188,733, including a base salary of $350,200, bonuses worth $87,550, retirement benefits of $71,050, and $637,864 in deferred compensation, after 17 years as CEO. This has been incorrectly cited as his salary.

In 2016, an investigation by the Omaha World-Herald found that executives managing its local Goodwill stores received salaries of up to $400,000 with its CEO, Frank McGree, also collecting a 2014 bonus of $519,000—while over 100 of his store workers were paid less than minimum wage. The investigation found that 14 executives (including the CEO's daughter) were paid more than $100,000, while only $557,000 of the enterprise's $4,000,000 revenue went to "programs" for the disabled. Despite the organization claiming its profits were to assist the disabled acquire job opportunities, the paper's investigators determined that, between 2011 and 2015, none of the store revenues supported job programs. Responding to the World's investigation, Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson conducted an official investigation, finding that McGree's salary was "excessive", and concluded that there had become "no correlation at all" between what the area's Goodwill's executives were paid and how the organization was performing its true mission. However, Peterson concluded no laws had been broken that he could charge; instead, he urged the state legislature to enact oversight reforms to the regulation of non-profits.

In 2018, CEO Rich Cantz of Goodwill Northern New England (NNE) released a video statement addressing false "Think Before You Donate" rumors that alleged owner Mark Curran profited $2.3 million a year from the organization, and no money was going to charity. In the statement, he said that Goodwill NNE does give to charities and works to provide resources for brain injury rehabilitation centers, those with disabilities, and veterans seeking work. Further, the website states that "Mark Curran" is neither the owner nor CEO. As of 2020, Steven Preston is the CEO of Goodwill Industries International and reports to a volunteer board of directors. In 2020, the stores in New England were still running a voiceover during shopping hours that reiterated this message to shoppers. The claims appeared in a longer email covering several for-profit and non-profit organizations, which was also debunked by Snopes.

Workers' wages

Goodwill Industries International has been criticized for using a provision of federal labor law to pay workers with disabilities less than the federal minimum wage. Under Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, organizations can obtain a "special wage certificate" to pay workers with disabilities a commensurate wage based on performance evaluations. Of Goodwill's 105,000 employees in 2013, 7,300 were paid under the special wage certificate program. The National Federation of the Blind regarded it "unfair, discriminatory, and immoral". Other disability rights advocates have defended Goodwill's use of the special wage certificate to employ workers with disabilities. Terry Farmer, CEO of ACCSES, a trade group that calls itself the "voice of disability service providers", said scrapping the provision could "force [disabled workers] to stay at home", enter rehabilitation, "or otherwise engage in unproductive and unsatisfactory activities". Goodwill believes that the policy is "a tool to create employment for people with disabilities" who would not otherwise be employed. Goodwill stated that "Eliminating it would remove an important tool for employers and an employment option available to people with severe disabilities and their families. Without the law, many people with disabilities could lose their jobs." Goodwill urged Congress to "support legislation that would strengthen the FLSA and increase its enforcement", and to "preserve opportunities for people with disabilities who would otherwise lose the chance to realize the many tangible and intangible benefits of work". A 2013 FLSA fact sheet from Goodwill stated that "Without FLSA Section 14(c), many more people with severe disabilities would experience difficulty in participating in the workforce. These jobs provide individuals with paychecks that they would be unlikely to receive otherwise, as well as ongoing services and support, job security, and the opportunity for career advancement." Goodwill updated this policy as of June 1, 2024, and only 9 out of 149 local Goodwills in the US still issued the certificates. The goal is to, "transition people with disabilities employed under the special minimum wage certificate into competitive integrated employment."

Lobbying

A coalition of smaller charities in California complained about Goodwill's support for legislation encouraging greater regulation of donation boxes, calling the efforts an "attempt to corner the clothing donation market and make more money". Local Goodwills argued that other donation boxes divert money from the community and contribute to blight, and pushed for state legislation that requires owners of a donation box to clearly display information about whether it is a for-profit or nonprofit organization.