Join the Product Giving Revolution
To engage with more manufacturers and retailers, meet the ever-growing need of charities and the people they support, and future-proof its model, In Kind Direct has launched its Manifesto for Product Giving.
Discover our story, embrace our commitments and "Join the Product Giving Revolution"!
An introduction from our Royal Founding Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales
Our story

Leading the way since 1997
Born from a visionary idea by our founder, HRH The Prince of Wales, In Kind Direct has received donations of new surplus consumer products from over 1,200 manufacturers and retailers and has made them available to more than 10,000 charities so far.
From office supplies to sports equipment, cooking utensils to clothes, essential toiletries, tools and toys - charities desperately need these products to run their services and to give to the people they serve.
With funding challenges and increasing demand, charities have to be ever more prudent with their resources and save money wherever they can:
- 91% of charities in our 2017 survey said that using In Kind Direct enabled them to source goods they would otherwise be unable to afford.
- 67% said using our service helps them to save precious funds and use the products to expand services and increase capacity.
- 70% confirmed that we simply help them to keep their doors open.
Beyond this, we have found that people who live in poverty and cannot access basic necessities are more prone to social isolation, issues with early childhood development and a crippling lack of confidence and self-esteem.
The insights from our impact survey, coupled with the stories and case studies from the charities in our network, allow us to focus on attracting the donation of goods most in demand. But we need to do more.
Trusted by over 1,200 businesses since 1997
Many of the major product donors which contribute to our charity today are among the early-adopters of the product giving model; having recognised the powerful social impact their contributions make and the benefits to their business, employees and customers.
Companies are increasingly expected to operate responsibly, in a way that considers and respects the environment and communities. In our recent poll of 100 CEOs:
- 91% agreed that the company they work for has a responsibility to reduce the amount of waste because of the negative environmental impact.
- 64% told us that they donate their surplus stock to charity to demonstrate delivering positive social impact.
- 85% agreed that if surplus is simply put into landfill, an opportunity is being missed to put these products to use for the good of society.
The world has entered a period of unprecedented change, which will profoundly transform the way we live and work and require businesses to adapt. The relevance and effectiveness of product giving have never been clearer. A simple step could make a vast difference to the lives of millions of disadvantaged people who cannot afford the everyday essentials many of us take for granted.


Talking to consumers
In 2017, for the first time, In Kind Direct committed to a consumer-facing, public relations campaign designed to help the general public understand the valuable contribution our product donor companies make. Using consumers’ influence on the companies they shop from, we want to build greater awareness of the work that we do.
In March 2017, our Life’s Essentials campaign shone a spotlight on the individuals and families, who, long before they are forced to go to food banks, have already stopped buying other every day essentials.
In July 2017, we exposed the issue of ‘Hygiene Poverty’ affecting tens of thousands of people every year and were able to create a clear call to action to both businesses and charities that more needs to be done. The campaign reached over 60 million and has started to embed Hygiene Poverty into the social consciousness, setting a new agenda amongst consumers and the media and providing us with a broad platform to talk about the importance of product giving.
With 86% polled FMCG CEOs saying their companies should donate products to charity - specifically to help alleviate hygiene poverty - our cause-related campaign enabled us to call on manufacturers and retailers to donate products to help address a specific challenge. But this and many more social challenges lie ahead.
Our research
In Kind Direct’s 20th Anniversary was a perfect opportunity to consider how we will continue to meet the needs of charities working to alleviate major social issues for the next 20 years. Thanks to a grant from The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, we commissioned PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to undertake research to understand the size of the product giving market and its potential for growth, to quantify the economic, social and environmental value generated by product donations, and to estimate how the market is likely to be affected by major global trends. We also asked PwC to make recommendations for us and for our existing and potential product donors.
Key findings:
- The demand for product giving is growing.
- Despite increasingly sophisticated supply chains, there are vast amounts of surplus potentially available for product giving. For example, across just six key product categories, the potential surplus available for donation has an estimated value of £2 billion per year.
- Although we have distributed over £200 million in value of goods, we are still only accessing a small fraction of the available surplus.
- Despite the potentially low financial returns, many companies still choose to clear their surplus through discounters and liquidators without considering non-financial benefits and the social value donating their products could deliver.
- CSR and sustainability initiatives are increasingly central to business, but product giving is often not considered strategically.
- Many companies are simply unaware of the possibility of product giving as a simple, sensible option.

Commitments
Our Manifesto sets out clear commitments for In Kind Direct to drive a shift in its operation and meet the challenges of the future to generate more social impact. But we can’t achieve our goals alone. Here are the commitments that we are asking companies to make:
Our commitment
INSPIRE
Continue to inspire product giving in the UK and internationally, by innovating and delivering the best experience to our stakeholder groups – companies, charities and funders.
INNOVATE
We will continue to develop our thought-leadership, working with specialists to further our knowledge and understanding of the sector and demonstrate its far-reaching benefits and potential for growth. We will also support charities in our network to measure their impact. We've now launched our Impact Assessment Guide in conjunction with this commitment.
ADVOCATE
Continue to advocate product giving through bold, cause-related awareness campaigns like Hygiene Poverty. We will work to move product giving up the agenda and position it as an easy-win for retailers and manufacturers to deliver on their corporate responsibility goals. We believe donating your product can be a most powerful demonstration of your corporate social responsibility values.
COLLABORATE
We will continue to support each manufacturer and retailer in the development of their product giving strategy with the first ever Strategic and Operational Guide to Product Giving and a series of presentations/workshops.
Your commitment
UNDERSTAND
Identify and quantify the surplus generated by your business in order to understand its potential value to charities and wider society.
PRIORITISE
Look carefully at the business case for product giving and your current surplus management policies with a view to developing a robust process to maximise any product donations.
INTEGRATE
Investigate how you can integrate product giving into your corporate planning and existing CSR and sustainability programmes, and see the positive impact that your products can have on society.
SUPPORT
Work collaboratively to enable, promote and support wherever possible, product giving for social good. Communicate with your colleagues and employees about the value and opportunity product giving offers.
PLEDGE
Contribute to our future growth by making a commitment to donate products to In Kind Direct, enabling us to support thousands more charities and the millions of people they help every year.
Signatories
This Manifesto already has the endorsement of many of our long-standing product donors. This list will be regularly updated with new signatories.
Acheson & Acheson
Fiona Acheson,
Owner & Creative Director
Amazon
Ajay Kavan, Vice President
International Special Projects
Big Green Smile
Ben Wigley, Founder
Bullitt Group
Lawrence Corbett, Chief Operating Officer
Colgate-Palmolive UK & Ireland
Philip Durocher, General Manager
Disney Store Europe
Graham Burridge, Managing Director
Essity
Thea Roberts, Vice President Consumer Goods UK & ROI
Faith in Nature
Rivka Rose, Founder
Halo Living
Charlie Oulton, Founder
Johnson & Johnson
Luc Huys, Managing Director
L’Oréal UK & Ireland
Geoff Skingsley, Chairman
Manhattan Toy
Erica Roberts, Vice President
MARS Pet Nutrition
Nigyar Makhmudova, Global President
McBride
Rik de Vos, Chief Executive
Meyer Group
Paul Wright, Chairman & Managing Director
P&G Northern Europe
Tom Moody, Managing Director
Pentland Brands
Andy Rubin, Chairman
Premier Paper Group
Dave Allen, Managing Director
PZ Cussons
Neill Craigie, Managing Director Europe, Australia & New Zealand
ReBOUND
Graham Best, Chief Executive
Ricoh UK & Ireland
Phil Keoghan, CEO
Vi-Spring
Jack Hurdon, Customer Service Team Leader
WoolOvers
Mike Lester, CEO
WOW Toys
Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, Chief Executive
Get involved today
You can call us on 0300 3020 200 or email info@inkinddirect.org
In Kind Direct is a registered charity in England and Wales no 1052679.
Company limited by guarantee no 3155226. VAT registration no 100108592