Apply or Renew as Federal Donee of Surplus Property

A public agency or a nonprofit, tax-exempt institution or organization that provides shelter or other services to homeless individuals. Institutions or organizations that acquire personal property through the donation program must use the items exclusively in their programs to provide direct assistance to homeless individuals.

The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, Public Law 100-77, enacted July 22, 1987, amended the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to authorize donations of Federal surplus personal property to nonprofit, tax-exempt providers of assistance to homeless individuals.

Homeless individual means:

• An individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, or who has a primary nighttime residence that is:
• A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);
• An institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or
• A public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
• For purposes of this part, the term homeless individual does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an Act of the Congress or a State law.

Provider of assistance to impoverished families and individuals: Means a public or nonprofit organization whose primary function is to provide money, goods, or services to families or individuals whose annual incomes are below the poverty line (as defined in section 673 of the Community Services Block Grant Act) (42 U.S.C. 9902). Providers include food banks, self-help housing groups, and organizations providing services such as the following: Health care; medical transportation; scholarships and tuition assistance; tutoring and literacy instruction; job training and placement; employment counseling; child care assistance; meals or other nutritional support; clothing distribution; home construction or repairs; utility or rental assistance; and legal counsel.

Nonprofit: Means not organized for profit and exempt from Federal income tax under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. 501).

Public Agency: Means any State; political subdivision thereof, including any unit of local government or economic development district; any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including instrumentalities created by compact or other agreement between States or political subdivisions; multijurisdictional sub state districts established by or pursuant to State law; or any Indian tribe, band, group, pueblo, or community located on a State reservation.

Homeless/Impoverished Provider New Application Checklist and Forms

Only institutions that meet all the elements of the basic definition for a museum are considered for eligibility.

Museum: Means a public or nonprofit institution that is organized on a permanent basis for essentially educational or aesthetic purposes and which, using a professional staff, owns or uses tangible objects, either animate or inanimate; cares for these objects; and exhibits them to the public on a regular basis (at least 1000 hours a year).

The term “museum” includes, but is not limited to, the following institutions if they satisfy all other provisions of this definition: Aquariums and zoological parks; botanical gardens and arboretums; nature centers; museums relating to art, history (including historic buildings), natural history, science, and technology; and planetariums.

For the purposes of this definition, an institution uses a professional staff if it employs at least one fulltime staff member or the equivalent, whether paid or unpaid, primarily engaged in the acquisition, care, or public exhibition of objects owned or used by the institution. This definition of “museum” does not include any institution that exhibits objects to the public if the display or use of the objects is only incidental to the primary function of the institution.

• Public Agency Museum The institution is supported in whole or in part with public funds. Any museum established as a part of, and operated by a State or local government agency is eligible to participate in the donation program as a part of the State or local government’s eligibility as a public agency.
• Nonprofit The museum has documentary evidence of its tax-exempt status under section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.
• Organized The institution is a duly constituted body with expressed responsibilities with articles of incorporation or other written instrument by which it was created that affirm its legal existence and the purpose(s) it was formed.
• Permanent The institution expects to continue in perpetuity.

Museum New Application Checklist and Forms

Nonprofit Education are programs to develop and promote the training, general knowledge, or academic, technical, and vocational skills and cultural attainments of individuals in a community or given political area. Public educational programs may include public school systems and supporting facilities such as centralized administrative or service facilities.

Approved: Means recognition and approval by the State department of education, or other appropriate authority where no recognized accrediting board, association, or other authority exists for the purpose of making an accreditation. For an educational institution or an educational program, approval must relate to academic or instructional standards established by the appropriate authority. An educational institution or program may be considered approved if its instructions and credits are accepted by three accredited or State-approved institutions; or if it meets the academic or instructional standards prescribed for public schools in the State; i.e. the organizational entity or program is devoted primarily to approved academic, vocational (including technical or occupational), or professional study and instructions, which operates primarily for educational purposes on a full-time basis for a minimum school year as prescribed by the State and employs a full-time staff of qualified instructors. In the absence of an official State approving authority for educational institution or program, the awarding of research grants to the institution or organization by a recognized authority such as the National Institute of Education, or by similar national advisor council or organization may constitute approval of the institution or program provided all other criteria are met.

Accredited: Means approval by a recognized accrediting board or association on a regional, State, or national level, such as a State board of education; a regional or national accrediting association for universities, colleges, or secondary schools; or another recognized accrediting association.

Child Care Center: Means a public or nonprofit facility where educational, social, health, and nutritional services are provided to children through age 14 (or as prescribed by State law) and that is approved or licensed by the State or other appropriate authority as a child day care center or child care center.

College: Means an approved or accredited public or nonprofit institution of higher learning offering organized study courses and credits leading to a baccalaureate or higher degree.

Educational Institution: Means an approved, accredited, or licensed public or nonprofit institution, facility, entity, or organization conducting educational programs or research for educational purposes, such as a child care center, school, college, university, school for the mentally or physically disabled, or an educational radio or television station.

Educational radio or television station: Means a public or nonprofit radio or television station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and operated exclusively for noncommercial educational purposes.

Library: Means a public or nonprofit facility providing library services free to all residents of a community, district, State, or region.

Nonprofit tax-exempt Activity: Means an institution or organization, which has been held to be tax-exempt under the provisions of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

School (except schools for the mentally or physically disabled): Means a public or nonprofit approved or accredited organizational entity devoted primarily to approved academic, vocational, or professional study and instruction, that operates primarily for educational purposes on a full-time basis for a minimum school year and employs a full-time staff of qualified instructors. School for the mentally or physically disabled: Means a facility or institution operated primarily to provide specialized instruction to students of limited mental or physical capacity. It must be public or nonprofit and must operate on a full-time basis for the equivalent of a minimum school year prescribed for public school instruction for the mentally or physically disabled, have a staff of qualified instructors, and demonstrate that the facility meets the health and safety standards of the State or local government.

University: Means a public or nonprofit approved or accredited institution for instruction and study in the higher branches of learning and empowered to confer degrees in special departments or colleges. 

Non-Profit Education New Application Checklist and Forms

Many nonprofit organizations that provide public health related programs and services to individuals or conduct research in support of medical treatment are eligible to receive surplus property.

Public Health Activity: Means an approved, accredited, or licensed nonprofit medical facility, entity, or organization that primary furnishes health and medical services through the conduct of research for any such purpose, experiments, training, or demonstrations related to cause, prevention, and methods of diagnosis and treatment of diseases and injuries. The term includes hospitals, clinics, alcohol and drug abuse treatment centers, health or treatment centers, research and health centers, geriatric centers, laboratories, medical schools, dental schools, nursing schools, and similar institutions. The term does not include institutions primarily engaged in domiciliary care although a separated medical facility within such a domiciliary institution may qualify as a medical institution.

Accredited: Means approval by a recognized accrediting board or association on a regional, State, or national level, such as State Board of Health or the American Hospital Association.

Approved: Means recognition and approval by State department of health, or other appropriate authority where no recognized accrediting board, association, or other authority exists for making an accreditation. For a public health institution or program, approval must relate to the medical requirements and standards for the professional and technical services of the institution established by the appropriate authority. A health institution or program is considered as approved when a State body with authority under law to establish standards and requirements for public health institutions renders approval to the facility by accreditation procedures, by licensing or other method prescribed by State law. In the absence of an official State approving authority for a public health institution, the award of research grants to the institution or organization by a recognized authority such as the National Institute of Health, or by similar national advisory council or organization may constitute approval of the institution or program provided all other criteria are met.

Clinic: Means an approved public or nonprofit facility organized and operated for the primary purpose of providing outpatient public health services and includes customary related services such as laboratories and treatment rooms.

Drug abuse or alcohol treatment center: Means a clinic or medical institution that provides for the diagnosis, treatment, or rehabilitation of alcoholics or drug addicts. These centers must have on their staffs, or available on a regular visiting basis, qualified professionals in the fields of medicine, psychology, psychiatry, or rehabilitation.

Health center: Means an approved public or nonprofit facility that provides public health services, including related facilities such as diagnostic and laboratory facilities and clinics.

Hospital: Means an approved or accredited public or nonprofit institution providing public health services primarily for inpatient medical or surgical care of the sick and injured and includes related facilities such as laboratories, outpatient departments, training facilities, and staff offices.

Licensed: Means recognition and approval by the appropriate State or local authority that approves institutions or programs in a specialized area. Licensing generally accounts for established minimum public standards of safety, sanitation, staffing, and equipment as they relate to the construction, maintenance, and operation of a health facility, rather than to the medical standards for these institutions.

Nonprofit tax-exempt activity: Means an institution or organization, which is tax-exempt under the provisions of Section 501 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

Public Health Institution: Means an approved, accredited, or licensed public or nonprofit institution, facility, or organization conducting a public health program(s) such as a hospital, clinic, health center, or medical institution, including research for such programs, the services of which are available to the public.

Non-Profit Health Program New Application Checklist and Forms

Under Section 213 of the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended (42 U.S.C 3020d), State and local government agencies, or nonprofit organizations or institutions, that receive Federal funding to conduct programs for older individuals.

Program for Older Individuals New Application Checklist and Forms

Programs for Older Individuals are any State or local government agency or any nonprofit, tax-exempt activity which receives funds appropriated for programs for older individuals under the Older Americans Act of 1965, as amended, under title IV or XX of the Social Security Act, or under titles VIII and X of the Economic Act of 1964 and the Community Services Block Grant Act.

Program for Older Individuals New Application Checklist and Forms

All public agencies are eligible to receive federal, state, and local government surplus property. The application establishes the identity of the authorized buyers for the agency and who to contact for compliance reviews and for eligibility renewals (every three years).

Public Agency New Application Checklist and Forms

Service Educational Activities are:

• American National Red Cross
• Armed Services
• YMCA of the USA
• Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America
• Boys and Girls Clubs of America
• Boy/Girl Scouts of America
• Camp Fire Boys & Girls
• Center for Excellence in Education
• Little League Baseball, Inc.
• Marine Cadets of America
• National Civilian Community Corps
• National Ski Patrol System, Inc.
• Naval Sea Cadet Corps
• Operation Raleigh
• United Service Organizations, Inc.
• U.S. Olympic Committee
• Young Marines of the Marine Corps
• Marine Corps League
• National Assoc. for EO in Higher Education

Service Education Activities New Application Checklist and Forms

The FORVETS Act of 2010 authorizes those Veterans Organizations (listed on the checklist) to participate in the Federal Surplus Property Program. The statute establishes those organizations eligible to participate as an organization whose membership comprises substantially of veterans, and in acquiring Federal Surplus Property for the purposes of education or public health.

Veterans Organizations New Application Checklist and Forms

For non-governmental, nonprofit, and tax-exempt fire, emergency, or rescue agencies that are not a public agency and for services of this type funded directly through a government.

Volunteer Fire Departments/Rescue Squads New Application Checklist and Forms