Clothing Drive Sign Up Sheet (free, online)

How to set it up

A clothing drive is mostly sorting. Donations come in bags and someone has to check each piece, sort by size and type, and box it up for the shelter or the closet. The sheet needs a list of sorting shifts across the collection week, drivers to move bags between sites, and a short list of what's actually needed with counts, because shelters run out of men's socks and coats in kids' sizes long before they run out of women's blouses.

The mistake is accepting everything. You'll spend sorting night throwing away a third of it. Put what you need on the page and say 'clean, no stains or tears' in the description. One tip: ask for new socks and underwear as a separate row with a count. It's the number-one request from almost every shelter and the thing people never think to bring.

Questions people ask

What should we ask people to donate?

Ask the shelter for their top five. It's almost always socks, underwear, coats and men's clothing. Put those on the sheet with counts and say 'clean and wearable' so you sort less.

How many people for sorting?

Six per two-hour shift can handle about 30 bags. Run a shift every evening of the collection week so it doesn't pile up. Reminders the day before keep sorting nights staffed.

Should we sort by size?

Yes, into labeled boxes, and put the size list in the shift description so new sorters know the system. The shelter will thank you when the boxes are already organized.

Why not a paper sheet or a Google Form?

A paper sheet lives in one place and fills up with the first people who walk past it. A Google Form takes forty signups for a row that needed two, and you find out in the spreadsheet. An online sign-up sheet closes each row when it's covered, sends a reminder the day before, and gives every person a link to cancel so the spot reopens. See the side-by-side with Google Forms.