One Warm Coat
Sharing warmth one coat at a time.
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Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Extreme cold can pose life-threatening risks to those who aren’t adequately protected. Cold weather makes the body work harder to prevent hypothermia, which puts more stress on the heart. Additionally, children and vulnerable adults are unable to regulate their body temperatures as healthy adults do and can quickly develop hypothermia without protection from the cold. One Warm Coat is a national nonprofit that provides free coats to people in need and works to create awareness of the vital need for warm coats across the country, while promoting volunteerism and environmental sustainability. One Warm Coat supports volunteer efforts to hold coat drives by providing tools and resources. One Warm Coat works with manufacturers and retailers to accept and process in-kind coat donations. One Warm Coat partners with non-profit agencies and schools in local communities across all 50 states to distribute coats for free and without discrimination to children and adults in need.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Coat Drive Program
One Warm Coat is the only national nonprofit organization facilitating coat drives. One Warm Coat supports individuals, groups, companies, and organizations by providing the tools and resources needed to hold a successful coat drive. Coats are distributed in the communities where they are collected, to any person in need, without charge or discrimination. Through the Coat Drive Program, every $1 donated warms 1 person.
Since 1992, One Warm Coat has supported 49,000 coat drives and provided warmth for 8 million people, while keeping more than 19 million pounds of clothing out of landfills.
Zero Waste Initiative
One Warm Coat works with retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers to up-cycle outerwear sample, overrun, overstock and irregular coats and other outerwear to children and adults in need across the United States and Canada.
One Warm Coat works with each organization to coordinate shipping/delivery to its network of nonprofit agency partners, who distribute the donated items directly to the people they serve. If necessary, One Warm Coat will cover the cost of shipping in order to get coats to those who are in need of warmth. One Warm Coat can also assist with facilitating donations other than coats.
Nonprofit Partnerships
One Warm Coat’s network of more than 1,500 nonprofit partner agencies and schools are integral to our programs. One Warm Coat’s partner agencies represent a broad spectrum of social services, and One Warm Coat assists these organizations by providing coats for their clients and enabling them to direct more valuable resources toward their primary mission. In return, participating agencies distribute coats in local communities across the country to the people they serve. Coats are distributed for free and without discrimination to children and adults in need.
Crisis Coat Fund
The Crisis Coat Fund enables One Warm Coat to provide coats for a specific geographic area or partner agency by purchasing coats at wholesale prices and shipping them directly to where there is an emergent need that is not being fully met through the Coat Drive Program.
Disaster Relief
One Warm Coat responds to natural disasters that put children and adults at risk due to cold weather by shipping donations of outerwear to our network of nonprofit partner agencies in the affected areas to distribute immediately to people in need.
Where we work
Awards
4-star rating 2023
Charity Navigator
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of clients served
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people, Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Coat Drive Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of coat drives held in 20-21 decreased by more than 50%. The number of registrations increased for the 21-22 season, but are back to pre-pandemic level yet.
Number of clients who report general satisfaction with their services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Adults, Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people, Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Coat Drive Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of organizational partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Ethnic and racial groups, Economically disadvantaged people, Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Coat Drive Program
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
One Warm Coat partners with nonprofit organizations and schools to distribute gently worn and new coats across the United States.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
To provide free coats to children and adults in need while promoting volunteerism and environmental sustainability.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
One Warm Coat's top three strategic goals are:
Goal 1:
Increase the percentage of OWC’s nonprofit partners that report through the annual survey that they received enough coats to distribute to provide warmth to all of their clients.
Goal 2:
Increase the number of coats received through the Bulk Coat Program. The Bulk Coat Program provides an important pipeline of coat donations and keeps thousands of pounds of textiles out of landfills each year.
Goal 3:
Increase the percentage of volunteer Coat Drive Ambassadors who register to hold a coat drive for a 2nd year. Volunteer retention is vital to the success of our programs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
One Warm Coat staff members have worked remotely for nearly 30 years, so while workplaces across the country were adapting to working from home last year, One Warm Coat was already proficient in virtual meetings! Of course we were incredibly worried last spring about the impact COVID-19 would have on our programs, specifically the Coat Drive Program. We had many conversations throughout the spring and summer with our nonprofit partners to ensure they would be able to accept coat donations. We allowed our nonprofit partners to opt out of the Coat Drive Program for the year if necessary. In total, less than 5% of our nonprofit partners opted out. Most partners said they would gladly accept donations. Overall, our partners reported a 30-50% increase in need over the previous year. At the same time, we saw a more than 50% decrease in coat drive registrations. This decline was expected as many of these drives are held in schools, workplaces, and retail stores, and many of those were closed or open in limited capacity last year. This reduction in coat drives resulted in a fairly significant decrease in the number of coats collected and ultimately distributed. However, more than 260,000 children and adults received free coats throughout the year. We are so inspired by our volunteer Coat Drive Ambassadors who overcame many obstacles to hold safe coat drives and observed the many social distancing tips we worked to build into our program, while also collecting coats in innovative ways, like a drive-thru coat drive. We encouraged our supporters who could not hold a physical drive to consider holding a virtual coat drive or making a financial contribution. We are hopeful that this year the coat drive registrations will rebound and we can collect and distribute more coats than ever before to meet the incredible need made worse by the economic hardships created by the COVID-19 pandemic. You can view our annual report here: https://www.onewarmcoat.org/our-work/impact/.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
During winter 2020/2021 One Warm coat supported:
- 1804 Coat Drive Ambassadors (volunteers)
- who collected 260,351 coats
- which were distributed to 1,000 + nonprofit partners to children and adults in need
- across all 50 states
- On average our programs keep more than 1 million pounds of textiles out of landfills each year.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
One Warm Coat
Board of directorsas of 08/22/2023
Jeff Zon
Gartner
Term: 2021 - 2024
Susan Peterson Sturm
Cognite
Deborah Chambers
Central Union Mission
Amrita Dutta-Gupta
GNC
Angela Cameron, DDS, PC
Sophisticates Smiles
Ryan Frederiksen
Ruan Transportation Management Systems
Susan Kim
Cathy Novy
GDI Integrated Facility Services Inc.
Julian Young
Cox Media Group
Michael Hand
Morgan Properties
Sofiya Melnykova
Freelance
Timothy Vaughn
Bowman
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/22/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.