Refresh, renew, de-clutter, downsize.
One call or click to Gone For Good — you're done.
Gone For Good will pick it up, sell it! Donate.
Who's behind this fresh way to give back?
Gail K. Miller and Retta Van Aucken teamed up and have created Gone For Good out of their desire to increase funding for Central Texas charities and have fun at the same time. Gail's Profile | Retta's Profile
... and so we asked ourselves: How can we increase funding for Central Texas charities and have fun at the same time?
We could help people de-clutter, downsize, move, or redecorate by donating treasures they no longer need to Gone For Good to sell. The money from each sale would be distributed to the non-profit organization of the donor's choice.
Then the questions came rolling in.
"You mean if I donate an item, and you sell it, Gone for Good will send all the money to my charity choice?
Yep, less a small handling fee retained to cover expenses. At the end of a calendar year, Gone For Good will donate any monies left over to a local charity of its choice.
Is Gone For Good a charity, and will I get a tax receipt from you?
Gone For Good is a fiscal sponsorship fund under the umbrella of the Austin Community Foundation. All donations ARE tax deductible.
Do you put a dollar amount on the receipt for the IRS or is that up to me?
The value of your donation is up to you to determine. There is no guarantee how much we will receive.
Will I be notified by the charity what dollar amount they received from Gone For Good?
That is up to the charity. When the check is sent from us to the charity, a letter accompanies it stating "Gone For Good is pleased to facilitate this kind act of philanthropy from (your name)."
What if you can't sell my items?
After a reasonable time period, unsold items are donated to either Goodwill or the Settlement Home for Children for them to sell. Either sold or donated, the items are out of your home and out of your life, and are gone to do good.
Do you pick up items I want to donate?
Yes, if they are located within a reasonable distance from our facility.
Who are you? Since you make no money, why are you doing this?
Retta Van Auken and Gail K. Miller founded Gone For Good from a desire to help Central Texans become philanthropists... painlessly. They have served on over 30 non-profit boards of directors.
September 28, 2010
Speaking of Paula Dreyer, of Organizing from AtoZ as we were a day or so ago, she has recently connected Gone For Good with a delightful company that takes special care of seniors. Edging closer and closer to that point in life, am stashing their business card in a highly visible place. It has the message on it, "When your Mom (me) needs help, here is THE number to call."
And what a great name: Heavenly Care. Sherry Franklin, a bright, energetic woman keeps all the wheels turning smoothly. They do moving for seniors and they do senior home care, taking care of the people and many of those pesky things that are hard to get done when you are older: changing lightbulbs, light errands, repairs and many, many other things,
Their websites are www.heavenlycaremoving.com and www.heavenlycaregivers.com. They were great to meet to learn about this resource right here in our own community. Gail and I look forward to working with them since often seniors are downsizing and their lovely items are looking for a way to Do Good, through donation to Gone For Good.
More soon. Retta is Gone For Good to do a little cooking for a brand new grandbaby in my family: Miss Morgan Lindsey Ferrell.
September 27, 2010 — What a ride! Gone For Good Co-Directors have had a whirlwind time since we last "spoke" here. We held a Gone For Good Carport Sale right at my home. Met lots of nice people, including one expert in old watches. And thanks to my friend Ted at Gallerie Estate Jewelers on West 38, we knew about an early 1950's 14k gold Movado watch was worth. Proceeds going to the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, which has heavy demands— NOW.
We also were thrilled that a fine young lawyer came by and fell in love with an 84-inch long, hand crafted solid oak settle, from the Hill Country. Proceeds going to the Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas. My grandson, Sam Bullion, who has a lively spirit, is learning to read and Down Syndrome, will delight in that when he's old enough to understand the strength and aid of that organization. The sale of some finely crafted oak custom cabinets will also benefit DSACT and will go into the lawyer's downtown office.
Gone For Good puts us in contact with such great folks. One consultant for non-profits heard about us through a first-class organizer whose website is www.theposhspot.com, called us and then unwrapped piece after exciting piece of collections she and her mother had lovingly stored for awhile. Among these items are two Whiting-Davis vintage purses, a hand-painted Limoges plate, two Nippon hand-painted plates, Beatles memorabilia, and 11 stunning tapestries. Gail and I are both animal lovers and animal rights folks, so we will work tirelessly to find good homes for these items with the proceeds going to Austin Humane Society. She also donated three Mickey Mouse commorative watches, stamped and numbered, along with a Donald Duck birthday watch. What fun!
Paula Dreyer of organizing A to Z, whose website if www.organizingAtoZ.com, has jumped on the Gone For Good bandwagon big time, introducing us to some wonderful friends, enlarging our network, and even aiming us toward an artshow in November!
More on that next time. Got to run over to review some items in a lovely home about to go on the market with lots of items that need to be Gone For Good.
Thanks for stopping by, Retta
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 — A First. And with Gone For Good there have been many first. But today, temps only in the 106 index, felt like a "dealer". meeting an interested party in what amounted to a parking lot, tho we cheated and met inside a store.
Why all the cloak and dagger?
A new Gone For Good listing, just last night in fact, drew a caller: Two books of a strange and most wonderful nature: a small pamphlet by that man from the '60's, Timothy Leary, second printing: Psychedelic Prayers, 1966. Printed in four or five colored inks giving the stages of various feelings from ingesting various substances, Or so we are told. AND, if that was not enough, a booklet to thrill those who loe Bukowski and Crumb: Bring me your love. This one a 1983 edition, limited, in great condition.
The buyer was pleased. Fun to find a home for these two from the collection of one of our most fascinating Gone For Good clients. He and his wife are doing a little downsizing, and every single item holds a story and displays their eclectic interests and beautiful minds.
It was a good exchange. Skulked back to the hot car and drove off.
Gone For Good had yielded yet another first!
Sunday, May 30, 2010 — Gone For Good just unfurled on the Central Texas giving scene after Gail Miller and I had coffee...a dangerous enterprise with such an energetic, imaginative woman as Gail Miller. She and I had already shown that as a combo we can get into lots of trouble — founding the Literacy Coalition of Central Texas several years ago, creating an armadillo mascot, complete with costume, starting up a grown-up (well, sort of) spelling bee.
Now, there we were in February, wondering what's next? We knew we wanted to help non-profits, but not so much as board members, tho both of us continue to serve enthusiastically on several. What do non-profits always have a short supply of? Money. How to get more? Checks are always good, cash is great, but, we thought, what about all those treasures adorning our homes and the homes of all those we know?
The problem? With the exception of the terrific Goodwill Industries and The Settlement Home, it is a rare non-profit that turns joyous when you drop off a box of fine things from the closet you just cleaned out. So, why not create a non-profit that will take those items, give you a tax break if you choose, then do the selling of them, donating the proceeds to charity?
So we did not hesitate: Gone For Good was birthed as a Fund of the Austin Community Foundation, one of those fine Central Texas entities that does good in so many ways.
So far? An estate auction, sale of some beguiling art, and now on to a silent auction for the Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas atop HomeAway's headquarters at 5th and Lamar, June 18.
De-cluttering? Well, for now not at Gail and Retta's homes. We have already taken in some fascinating items that will describe in this blog...one of them might be just that special items for which you are yearning (wow—it is hard to keep that preposition in the right position). Like a handcarved Buddha or an African mask.
More soon. For now am gone for good. — Retta
The Settlement Home is our featured charity.
