Our
Story
Every year in Australia, $2.5 billion of unsold household goods are wasted and 1 in 8 Australians are living below the poverty line.
Good360 Australia exists to reduce this need and waste by connecting businesses brand new unsold goods to people in need, creating a Circle of Good, where everyone benefits.
The Good360 Story
Why it started
Alison Covington AM found out about Good360 in the USA in 2012 and thought it was a game changer. There were lots of charities rescuing food in Australia, but no organisation was saving unsold brand-new goods, at scale, from going to waste. Good360 had been operating in the US for 30 years at that stage and had connected $7 billion of new goods to people in need. Why didn’t we have the same solution here in Australia? Alison knew she had to start Good360 Australia and connect the spare brand-new goods of business with vulnerable Australians who need them most.
About the USA
In 2013 Alison went to the US to collaborate with Good360 and bring the model back to Australia. Good360 US works with leading retailers and brands including Amazon, The Home Depot, Disney, United Airlines, and Nike just to name a few. The scale and efficiency of the model was tried and proven over 30 years. In 2013 Good360 US was connecting $300 million of goods to people in need, in 2023 they are forecast to connect $2.5 billion!
Inspiration
Alison Covington AM launched Good360 in Australia in 2015 to reduce need and waste. She wanted to give all brand-new goods a first life by connecting them to people in need. Inspired by Grace Wallis, the daughter of her lifelong friend Susan, Alison set herself the target to gift $1 billion of goods to Australians who need them most. Many amazing, passionate people and businesses have generously provided skills, time, funds, goods and support and we humbly thank them for their kindness. We have achieved much, but there is still so much to do. Alison believes that we can create change by creating a simple solution–a solution where businesses have the opportunity to donate their spare and excess goods to lift up Australians–whether it’s toys to a family violence shelter or notebooks for a school we are creating a Circle of Good, where everyone benefits, from people to the planet.
How Good360 Works
At Good360 we are connectors. We connect charities, schools and society’s most vulnerable with businesses willing to donate unsold or surplus goods, services and disaster recovery essentials. Our mission is to ensure the excess goods and services businesses produce every year flow to people in need rather than going to waste.
The result is a Circle of Good that reduces need and waste in our communities at the same time so everyone benefits – from people to the planet.
Our Founder
Alison Covington, AM, launched Good360 Australia in 2015, after discovering Good360 in the US in 2012 and being amazed by its scale and efficiency. Prior to starting Good360 Alison had a very successful career, with a background in retail, IT and public transport but a big life event made her want to change course.
“After doing some career coaching I came to the conclusion that I wanted to work in the Not for Profit sector. I’ve been an MD for a long time, so I knew I couldn’t come in at an entry level. I knew that I couldn’t deal with any fluffiness and that I needed to do something that was extremely efficient. I knew that I wanted to use my commercial skills for good, but who to help?” Alison continues.
Alison found out about Good360 in America upon receiving a newsletter from Pro Bono Australia News.
“The Good360 model ticked all the boxes for me. It was innovative, it didn’t replicate anything else in Australia, it fitted my corporate skills, it was incredibly efficient, it was technologically advanced, it was cause agnostic – I could help everyone and it was changing the face of charitable giving” says Alison. Alison immediately knew that Australia needed Good360.
In 2021, six years after starting Good360, Alison was awarded Western Sydney Woman of the Year, Western Sydney Community Woman of the Year and NPF Third Sector Awards’ CEO of the Year. In 2022 Alison was appointed AM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her significant service to social welfare and sustainability programs.
Alison says about the past ten years “Fast forward past a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears and we have done it! We are changing the way people think about giving. I have a very collaborative relationship with Good360 in the US. We are working hard in partnership to make this a global good”.
Our goal is to distribute
$1 billion of goods by 2025
to Australians that need them most
Our History
In 2012, Alison discovered Good360 had been operating in the USA for over 30 years and couldn’t believe we didn’t have this idea in Australia. At that time Good360 had donated over $7bn of goods to over 35,000 Not for Profits through the generous donations of 3M, HP, Home Depot and many more business partners.
In 2013, Good360 USA hosted Alison Covington and shared their 30+ years’ experience in product philanthropy and agreed to help establish Good360 Australia.
In 2014, our founding partner Goodman pledged support by providing pro-bono office & warehouse space and continue this generous support today.
In 2015 we launched our website and welcomed our founding donors; 3M, Linen House, Shoes of Prey, LUSH and 100 Not for Profits and schools signed up as founding members.
$1.5M seed funding over 3 years secured from eight philanthropic foundations including; Snow Foundation, English Family Foundation, Sidney Myer Trust & Nelson Meers Foundation.
In 2016 we hit our milestone of 500 Not for Profit and school members supported and offered Click & Collect from our Sydney warehouse.
In 2017 BIG W becomes a partner and donates 400,000 items for families in need during Christmas. This is the beginning of a long term partnership that helps vulnerable communities all over Australia.
In 2018 we pioneered the Local Store Donation Program to connect the unsold brand new goods of retail stores with local Not for Profits and schools. Working with our partner BIG W we connected 183 stores with more than 300 Not for Profits and schools who received over 3M brand new items including toys, clothing, household and electrical goods.
This program continues to grow and we have partnered with other big retail brands including Best & Less and Jeans West, connecting goods to local charities and schools where the retail staff work and live.
In 2019 after 4 short years, we hit a huge milestone with over $110 million of goods donated by our corporate partners and we connected over 10 million items to Australians who need them most.
In 2020, the cycle of back-to-back disasters began with the Black Summer bushfires. Good360 launched our Disaster Recovery strategic response, helping get the right goods, to the right people, at the right time throughout all stages of a disaster providing hope and dignity to communities adversely impacted.
The importance of this approach became evident as Australia battled wave after wave of disasters including COVID-19, a world wide pandemic that affected every corner of our lives!
In 2021, Australia and the world, faced our second year of COVID-19. The highly contagious Delta strain hit our shores in June, between July and October 2021, Good360 distributed over 4 million essential items to COVID impacted communities.
In 2022 we started the year with anticipation of a fresh start, but the Omnicron variant had other plans for Australia with staff shortages, supply chain issues and high infection rates. On top of this devastation Le Nina became a constant in our lives, with devastating flooding affecting NSW, Queensland and Victorian communities. The nation was exhausted and battered by the end of 2022. Good360 has connected over 17 million essential items to disaster affected communities valued at $142.3 million – half our total impact is now in disaster recovery!
Our Core Values
Kindness
We bring kindness to every interaction. 'Tempering every interaction with kindness allows people and possibilities to flourish’.
Integrity
We build open and honest relationships through communication. ‘Building trusting relationships makes us more productive and effective’.
Collaboration
We collaborate - not replicate. ‘We know that the sum is greater than the parts, we share knowledge and support other NFPs to maximise impact'
Innovation
We embrace and drive change and aren't afraid to pivot. 'We believe in making a positive impact on people and the planet, and it starts with ourselves’.
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