More than enough, not enough to get by.
These two realities shouldn’t coexist. We live in a world of plenty, yet millions of people find themselves in critical need every day, creating a vast gap.
At Good360, we’re on a mission to close what we’re calling the “need gap.” We know there’s more than enough to go around. Enough mattresses to make sure everyone has a good night’s sleep. Enough shoes to make sure no child goes barefoot. And enough goodwill to make sure nobody will go without the essentials that they need to thrive.
First, let’s talk about the need gap.
The world isn’t lacking goods. In fact, we’re swimming in excess stuff as consumption continues to grow. The World Bank estimates that global waste will increase by 70% by 2050 as the result of rapid urbanization, population growth and economic development. Much of this waste can be diverted from landfills with programs that support the circular economy
Consider this staggering statistic: The global self-storage market is expected to balloon to $65 billion by 2026, according to a report by Mordor Intelligence Research.
What’s driving such demand for more storage space? Growing families with “more material possessions,” the report says.
Meanwhile, income and wealth inequality continues to widen. According to Pew Research, the wealth gap between America’s richest and poorest families more than doubled from 1989 to 2016. The highest-earning 20% of families made more than half of all U.S. income in 2018.
Then came the pandemic. COVID-19 was the ultimate intensifier of need. The World Bank estimates that 119 to 124 million people worldwide were pushed into extreme poverty due to the unprecedented health crisis. During the height of the pandemic, 11% of American households said there were times when they didn’t have enough to eat.
On top of all this, global warming is making natural disasters more frequent and more severe, increasing devastation and suffering for millions, but especially for those already in critical need.
In the 1980s, the number of billion-dollar disasters was 29, according to Climate.gov. During the 2010s, that figure grew to 119. In 2020 alone, there were 22 disasters that exceeded a billion dollars in damage.
Clearly, we don’t have a supply problem when it comes to available goods and funding. What we have is a distribution problem. We need to get the right products to the right people at the right time.
This is where Good360 is uniquely positioned to make an impact — a big impact. The global disaster of the pandemic gave us an opportunity to showcase our core strengths: our network of more than 90,000 vetted nonprofits and charities, our strong and growing donor partnerships, our logistics expertise and, of course, our people and organizational culture.
When the moment called for it, we met an unprecedented level of need with an equally unprecedented response. In 2020, we distributed more than $870 million worth of goods, touching some 7.5 million lives. In all, we have distributed more than $300 million in COVID relief. This year, we’re on track to exceed the $1 billion mark in terms of needed goods distributed.
The pandemic underscored to our partners something we’ve known all along: Our small but mighty team is an excellent amplifier of good.
We enable our corporate partners to drive a bigger impact with their products, while making the donation process as frictionless as possible. For our nonprofits, we give them access to donations that allow them to devote more dollars to meet their mission. And for those in need, we put products directly in their hands that help them live better while giving them dignity.
Ultimately, we are enabling people striving to do more with what they have for their communities, whether they work in a Fortune 500 company or a small, grassroots organization.
And that’s a great place to be. Because when we close the need gap, we create more opportunity: for donors to use their goods for good and nonprofits to better serve their
communities; for communities to become more resilient and for us all to waste less; and for people to reach their boundless potential.
When we get goods to where they can do the most good, we begin to close the need gap. Between those with plenty and those with not enough. Between corporations with so much to give, and organizations with so many people to help. Between a person in a tough situation, and a better world. A world where there’s more than enough to go around. More opportunity. More joy. More resilient communities. More good.
We’re Good360. And we’re on a mission to close the need gap and open opportunity for all.
