How to Donate Old National Geographic Magazines

The National Geographic Society has been in the business of teaching people about the Earth for over 100 years. In that time it has published hundreds of magazines about science, nature and animals. If you are a subscriber, chances are you have many magazines around your home. Instead of throwing your magazines away, why not donate them to an organization that can use them? As long as your magazines are in good condition, there are plenty of places you can donate them to.

Inspect and organize your magazines. Make sure you haven't written personal information on the pages and that each magazine is intact. Order the magazines chronologically so they are easy to sort through.

Ask if local schools would like them. From elementary school through college, National Geographic magazines are a great research tool. Younger children enjoy looking at the pictures and older students can use the articles as sources for research papers.

Check with your local library to see if they can use them. Libraries like to have a large selection of periodicals for visitors to choose from. People can borrow the magazines not only for research, but for casual reading.

Donate them to a medical office. Nearly every doctor's office will keep magazines in the waiting room for patients to read before their appointment. A donation of your old magazines will likely be appreciated.

Offer them to friends and neighbors. If you've enjoyed the magazines, chances are those around you will, too. See if anyone around you would like to take a few off your hands.

Send copies to soldiers. An organization called Books for Soldiers accepts copies of used books and magazines to send to troops overseas. In order to find a soldier who would like National Geographic, you must visit booksforsoldiers.com and find a soldier to send them to.

Remove or black-out all the address labels before you donate your magazines.

Ask before donating magazines. At some places like doctors offices and hospitals might not accept your donation for sanitary reasons.