I've had the same experience - don't tell them that their StoneCrusher MTB is a POS, just try to sound knowledgeable and _practical_ in communicating the needs of your shop.

To some people I've pointed out how unserviceable/unusable plastic and riveted parts are...but more often than not I'll talk about how much storage space we have vs the demand for low-grade bikes. Then maybe point at the bikes currently under repair - which are usually 80s and earlier steel bikes. Then I suggest a way to place to donate the bike - Goodwill? - and finally thank them for offering it to us. If the person looks annoyed upon arrival, I might just take the bike so their visit to the shop doesn't leave a bad taste in their mouth...

On the flip side, if you have huge storage capacity and volunteers who can strip the bikes for scrap, that sounds fabulous.

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 11:42 AM, BK Info <info@bikekitchen.org> wrote:

We don't charge people to donate to us. We do look over each bike before accepting it and have a policy where we don't take department store bikes. We explain that our mission is to teach people how to work on/build bikes and they department store bikes are not a good base to work off of. Everyone seems to be cool with that.

-jimmy

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 10:04 AM, Wanda Pelegrina Caldas <wanda@communitycycles.org> wrote:

Ok, read the thread backwards.
What Leslie describes below is is pretty much our thinking too except for we do ask for a donation processing fee.
However, if we don't get one, we too grin and bear it.

We have scrappers come and take what they can use from our "junk pile". Artists and people looking for parts for art, school (and other) projects. Getting too many crappy bikes is still an issue, but in a sense, we can still see it as putting parts of those bikes back into the community...call it re-purposing if you like.

Wanda Pelegrina Caldas
Community Cycles, Boulder's only non-profit bike shop, serves all your bike commuting needs.
Use our secure online donation form to become a member, today.
Thanks!!

Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2012 12:04:44 -0400
From: lesliepeteya@gmail.com

To: thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Bicycle Donation Fee?

We just grin and bear all the crappy donations, in order to get those precious few decent bicycles.
We have a good rapport with our cycling community and don't want to cause any ire concerning
donations; cash bikes and memberships are our lifeblood.

One thing we've incorporated into our model is to have unskilled volunteers break down bicycles
for scrap metal into aluminum and steel. We then have someone take it to the recycling place.

We don't really make any money from it for all that effort, but it's better than drowning in a sea
of Huffys and Roadmasters. Also, our unskilled volunteers get wrenching experience without
the pressure of screwing up working bikes.

Best,
Leslie
Durham Bike Co-op

On Tue, Oct 16, 2012 at 11:56 AM, Andrew Burnell <aburnell@gwi.net> wrote:

Hi All,

We have been inundated with bicycle donations lately and looking for some guidance: Does your shop require/ask that a cash donation be made with each bicycle donation? We have never asked for cash donations on top of bike donations, but we’ve noticed that often times people are using us as a city dump instead of a shop.

On another note, here are links to our volunteer blog and SlideShare account. I hope they are of assistance to your respected programs. Feel free to comment or make recommendations…

http://communitybicyclecenter.blogspot.com/

http://www.slideshare.net/cbcad2010/documents

Andrew