Donate your computer!

As you or your organization upgrades computers you need something to do with the used computers. Caldwell School District accepts those computers for use in the classroom.

Computer donations are beneficial to both parties, our district gets new computers and the donator gets a write-off for tax purposes. When you donate your computer you will receive a letter of donation which can be used to write off a portion of your taxes.

Please call prior to delivering your used computer equipment so we can make sure someone is at the office to accept your donations. Please call 208-455-4463. Generally our office hours are from 7am to 4pm. Donations can be brought to 2716 S. Montana Caldwell, ID 83605 in the Information Technology Services office behind Syringa Middle School.

Donation tips from the technology department:

  1. Determine if your old computer can be reused. If you have a computer that is less than five years old, chances are that it can be put to good use by us. We prefer to work with newer equipment, usually Pentium III-level computers or newer that can run current Internet programs. If your computer is more than five years old, it is harder to get it to work with some of the applications that we use in the district. We will still accept it as long as it is in good working condition.

  2. Recycle old and broken PC equipment. Any equipment that is not working or that is below Pentium- or Mac Power PC-level should be tagged for recycling. Recyclers are businesses or organizations that remove useful parts and then break down the rest of the materials, as we do with bottles and cans. They also safely remove hazardous materials. Note: Some of these organizations may charge a fee to accept old PC's and equipment for recycling -- especially computer monitors.

    For listings of recyclers, please visit:

  3. Remember the accessories. If you can, include the keyboard, mouse, printer, modem, packaged software, or any other accessories. We can almost always put them to good use.

  4. Provide the original media and documentation. It's helpful to have the original disks, media, and documentation that came with the PC when it was purchased. Include the proof of license, which will help facilitate the legal transfer of the operating system. If you no longer have it we can generally find drivers for your computer equipment on the manufacturer web site.

  5. Please clean all personal data off of your hard drive before donation. If you do not know how to clean your computer of personal information yourself, please let us know at the time of donation so we can be sure to format it before use. It's best to use some disk cleaning software to delete your Internet browser's cache, cookies, history, your e-mail contacts and messages, your documents, your recycle or trash folder, and non-transferable software. The best thing to do is to use a disk cleaning utility that overwrites data so that is unrecoverable.

    Here are some examples of disk cleaning utilities:
    Commercial Windows Disk Cleaning Software
    Wipe Info feature in Norton Utilities and System Works
    Paragon Disk Wiper
    Webroot Window Washer
    Tracks Eraser Pro
    Wipedrive

    Freeware Windows Disk Cleaning Software (all available at Shareware.com)
    Eraser
    Active@ Kill Disk: Hard Drive Eraser
    Disk Cleaner
    Sure Delete
    BCWipe (shareware)
    If the PC is still under a manufacturer's warranty, you can call the company's technical services and ask for specifics on how to delete personal files.

  6. Keep a list of what you donated for your records. Remember that tax season will be coming up. You are very likely eligible for a tax break if you donate to a nonprofit organization. We do provide a letter of donation which lists the date of donation and a list of equipment donated upon request. The tax laws pertaining to this are Section 170 of the Federal Income Tax Code, the New Millennium Classrooms Act, and the 21st Century Classrooms Act. Business donors can deduct the un-depreciated value of the computer, and individuals can deduct the current market value of a computer. To determine the fair market value of a computer, go to the Computers for Schools Canada free computer "valuator". Once you put in your components and click on submit there will be prices for both Canadian dollars and US dollars.

  7. Plan for future donations. Save a box from the recycling bin and use it to store the documents that came with your new PC. When the time comes around to donate that PC, everything will be in one place.

Thank you for your donations!