Goodwill and AT&T have partnered to launch a mobile application to help shoppers and donors easily find the nearest Goodwill location.

The app lets users find store locations and hours, save a favorite location and give a monetary donation. Users can download the app for free in Apple?s App Store and Google Play.

?Our shoppers and donors help fund Goodwill?s job training, career and community services that benefit people in local communities,? said Beth Perell, vice president of communications and information management at Goodwill, Rockville, MD.

?We know the demand for our community services is high, and in order to meet the needs of our communities, we need to do our best to make shopping at and donating to Goodwill as convenient as possible,? she said. ?We want to make the experience of finding a Goodwill location as easy as possible for them. 

?The app helps our donors more easily locate the nearest Goodwill location via GPS or city, state or postal or ZIP code on their smartphones. A shopper or donor can find a location near their home or office and save it as a favorite, so it?s easy to find again.?

Goodwill locator
Goodwill?s mobile app lets users search for information in more than 4,800 Goodwill donation centers and stores across the United States and Canada.

Consumers can find the nearest Goodwill location by enabling geo-location or by manually entering an address. Each location will display hours and the various types of services it offers.

Users can then save a location within the app for future use.

Additionally, the app provides information about Goodwill?s mission along with the ability to make a financial gift.

Within the ?Give? feature, users can read why others decided to donate to Goodwill.

For example, one person named Jenny explains that she donates because Goodwill helped her sister get a job.

Mobile Goodwill
According to Ms. Perell, the Goodwill locator is the most popular feature on the company?s Web site. Additionally, industry trends predict that mobile will eclipse desktop by 2014.

Goodwill analytics showed that more users accessed the locator on a phone than a desktop starting in May 2012.

Now, Goodwill?s online visitors are six times more likely to access location information on a mobile device, per Ms. Perell. The company expects that mobile traffic will surpass three million users in 2013.

Mike Troiano, vice president of advanced mobility solutions at AT&T Business Solutions, Dallas, TX, believes that mobile is crucial for a company such as Goodwill.

?The need for mobility really comes down to reaching customers when and how they want to be reached,? he said.

?We?re seeing more and more businesses embracing mobile apps for this reason. In fact, more than 68,000 AT&T business customers have adopted mobile applications.?

Goodwill understands this need and realizes the importance of mobile.

?We recognized the value of mobile early on and, as mobile continues to grow, we know Goodwill needs to continue to be in this space to continue to reach our supporters, shoppers and donors,? Ms. Perell said.

?Many people know Goodwill for its thrift stores and donation locations, but not as many are familiar with Goodwill?s mission, which is to provide job training, career and community services,? she said.

?The app is a great tool for Goodwill to provide convenience while letting our donors and shoppers know they are creating a positive impact in their communities.?

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York