Over the last few years, we at ASI Media have written extensively about SwagCycle – the initiative started in 2019 by Somerville, MA-based distributor Grossman Marketing Group (asi/215205) to help keep obsolete promotional products out of landfills through charitable donation or by facilitating their recycling.

But to mangle that old chestnut from the Hair Club for Men: Now, not only is ASI covering SwagCycle, we’re also a client. My apologies to the late Sy Sperling for that one, but allow me to elaborate.

SwagCycle is a worthy endeavor, and one that’s continued to gain momentum as word spreads about its successes. Ben Grossman, named this year to Counselor’s Power 50 list of the most influential people in promo, said in the fall that the initiative has kept around 1.8 million items out of landfills and facilitated more than $3.12 million in charitable donations over the last four years.

“Historically, for a lot of companies and distributors, the path of least resistance has been to dispose of goods. What we set out to do with SwagCycle was to create a frictionless platform to make it really easy for a company to make the right decision.”– Ben Grossman, SwagCycle

Grossman is expecting that SwagCycle will hit the 2 million mark, in terms of items kept out of landfills, by the end of 2023, and ASI’s own recent donation is helping them to reach that landmark.

It all started when we gave the storage area in our Trevose, PA-based headquarters the full Marie Kondo treatment. “We realized we had so many outdated materials taking up space, and we knew Ben has a recycling initiative,” ASI’s Senior Operations Manager Tricia Walter told me. “So, we decided to reach out to him to see if we could work together.”

Overall, ASI had more than 1,300 branded items we’d never used and no longer needed, but didn’t want to end up in the trash. (Landfills do not spark joy.) Among the products were headphones, backpacks, notebooks, fleece pullovers, tumblers, baseball caps, golf logbooks and other golf tools.

The process of working with SwagCycle is simple, and that’s by design. “Historically, for a lot of companies and distributors, the path of least resistance has been to dispose of goods,” Grossman says. “What we set out to do with SwagCycle was to create a frictionless platform to make it really easy for a company to make the right decision – and by right decision, I mean the decision that is best for the environment as well as potentially best from a philanthropic perspective in a very cost-effective and easy way.”

“The donation was wonderful, a really great range and assortment of items.”– Monique Zantop, Birth Brite

After a company has expressed interest in using SwagCycle’s services, Grossman and his team will ask a series of qualifying questions to figure out the best match for the merch. One of the most important things is to find out whether items need to be recycled or if they can go to a charitable partner. (Companies that employ field technicians, for example, might have concerns about impersonation if their logoed apparel lingers.)

“If the goods can live on in their existing form, it’s the best environmental outcome, and it makes a nice impact in the community,” Grossman says.

Other questions donors must also consider: Are there any geographic restrictions on where the goods can go, or is it OK to facilitate a donation near company headquarters? (A local linkup can cut down on carbon emissions associated with shipping, but a regional brand might have concerns about flooding the surrounding area with obsolete logoed merch.) Are there any causes – like environmental sustainability or DEI – that your company is particularly interested in supporting? (If education is near and dear to a brand’s heart, for example, SwagCycle might try routing their donation to a local Boys & Girls Club.)

After gathering details about the prospective donation and the donor’s needs, SwagCycle can narrow down its master list of charitable partners, consisting of several hundred nonprofits in the U.S. and beyond. Then, SwagCycle will share the list of potential donations with prospective organizations to see if any or all meet their immediate needs. The initial matchmaking phase typically takes about a week or two, though Grossman says it can be expedited if a brand needs to empty a warehouse in a hurry. Once a connection is made, it’s up to the donor to have the goods shipped – at their own expense – to their new home.

“We don’t view a project as being done until a charitable donation receipt or letter is issued by the charity back to the donor for record-keeping purposes,” Grossman says.

SwagCycle found a match for ASI’s donations in Jackson, MI. If, like me, you’re a bit rusty on your state abbreviations, that’s the city 40 miles west of Ann Arbor and 35 miles south of Lansing – not the capital of Mississippi. Birth Brite, a nonprofit that offers support and resources for children in the foster care system, was over the moon to receive ASI’s promo product donations to help stock its foster closet. Foster children and their families are able to “shop” the closet for new and gently used clothing and other items whenever they need to for free, says Monique Zantop, CEO and co-founder of the nonprofit.

Birth Brite, a nonprofit in Jackson, MI, stocks a closet of new and gently used clothing and other items that foster children and their families can “shop” whenever needed.

“The donation was wonderful, a really great range and assortment of items,” Zantop says. The fleece pullovers, for example, will be welcome armor against winter weather, but even items that one wouldn’t necessarily associate with children – such as golf tools and logbooks – are a worthy donation, she says. A teen shopping the foster closet might appreciate the items as a low-stakes way to try out a new hobby, or they could choose the item to give as a Christmas present to, say, a grandparent who loves to hit the links.

“We always like to remind people that the ‘shoppers’ range in ages from newborn up to young adult,” Zantop says, adding that it’s not just about providing necessities in a dignified way, but also about bringing comfort and joy to an underserved community.

Receiving donations of logoed items is just as welcomed as blank goods would be. “Resources are limited,” Zantop adds. “It’s always a relief and greatly appreciated when we receive items from businesses that no longer have a purpose for them. We’re definitely happy to recycle them and give them a new home and a new purpose.”

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