Donating items to Children’s Wisconsin

Support the kids and families of Children’s Wisconsin

We’re so grateful for your generosity, passion and creativity! Because of you, Children’s Wisconsin is able to fulfill our mission of helping Wisconsin’s kids be the healthiest in the nation. Thank you for taking a moment to learn how you can make the most impactful gift to the kids we serve.  

Make the fastest, biggest impact: Shop our registries

Our gift registries are the preferred in-kind donation method – it’s fast for you and ensures your donation makes the biggest impact possible! 
*Note: In-kind donations are any non-monetary gift of goods or services.

We consider every element of a hospital stay through the eyes of the kids and families we serve. When you purchase a new gift from our registries, you enhance a child’s health care experience by providing comfort and therapeutic distraction to normalize the hospital environment. Likewise, treatment milestones, birthdays and holidays are made even more special with child-friendly surprises. Our Child Life and Creative Arts Therapies team frequently updates our Amazon and Target registries with our most-needed items. These purchases are shipped directly to Children’s Wisconsin.

Shop our Amazon registry or Target registry

Your donations in action

Child life

Start a virtual fundraiser for books, art supplies and more

Help raise funds for our Child Life and Creative Arts Therapies program by hosting a virtual drive or Facebook fundraiser. Encourage your family, friends, coworkers and professional network to participate. By donating to our virtual toy drive, you allow our team to purchase age-appropriate items that are used to provide comfort, joy and help celebrate milestones for the kids in our care.

What about donating new toys or other items in-person?

 *Donations will not be accepted without a drop-off appointment. Please review the following guidelines before completing our in-kind donation scheduling form.

  • To ensure the health, safety and privacy of the families we serve, our staff is committed to a healing environment. With that in mind, there are some items that will not be accepted. Please review the following donation guidelines as well as a list of items we are unable to accept. We may have to decline or ask you to pause on making your donation if we have limited storage space or donations do not meet Children’s greatest needs.

Below are our guidelines for drop-off:

  • To keep our kids safe from infection, all donated items must be new/unused (store-bought and in their original packaging) and cannot contain latex.
  • We cannot accept handmade, gently used items, items that have been stored for an extended period of time or food.
  • Donated items cannot have additional labels, stickers, logos or attachments. This includes messaging from charities or other not-for-profit organizations.
  • Please keep items to a “grab-and-go” size (no larger than 18 inches tall).
  • We care for kids who may have experienced significant violence or trauma. All donations must be free from violent themes.
  • We promote the social, dental, physical and mental health of those we serve. All donations should support healthy habits.
  • We care for kids and families of all religious and spiritual backgrounds and beliefs. All donated items must be free from both generic and specific religious or spiritual themes or messages.
  • This donation is in honor/memory of
    • *Note: We’d love to know if your donation is in honor of someone. We have options for how you might want to further honor this individual through your gift. Our donation policy does not allow us to distribute gifts with names or photos that specific individuals including past or current patients, staff members, etc.
  • To respect the privacy of our patients and families, we are unable to allow donors to personally deliver gifts. Our staff ensures gifts are appropriately distributed throughout our system.
  • Questions? Email toydonations@childrenswi.org or call our donation staff in Milwaukee at (414) 266-2183 or in Neenah at (920) 967-9129.

Complete this scheduling form to start the donation process. A member of our team will be in contact with you to confirm your donation.

In Milwaukee: Donations can be dropped off by appointment only, Monday – Friday, from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. Please complete this form to schedule a drop off appointment.

In Neenah: At this time, donations will only be accepted from our gift registries. Shop our Amazon registry or Target registry.

Many other community organizations accept gently used items. If your items don’t match our needs, we encourage you to contact these organizations to see if they can accept your gently used items.

 

Learn more from Children’s donation coordinators

Other ways to support Children’s families

Thank you for being thoughtful about giving in the ways that are most meaningful to you, and the kids and families of Wisconsin! There are many ways to support kids and families, from volunteering to corporate sponsorships. View our full list to learn more.

Your generosity will help us ensure that kids’ futures are brighter than ever.