A single question at the register can change someone’s direction.
When a cashier asks if you would like to Round Up, it may sound small. A few cents. Less than a dollar. Easy to decline and easy to overlook.
But that decision to round up supports career training for job seekers in your local community.
Every purchase at Goodwill supports something bigger than a transaction. It supports job training, career services, and employment programs that help individuals with barriers to self-sufficiency achieve independence and dignity through work. Not charity, but a chance.
At checkout, you may be asked if you would like to “Round Up” your purchase.
Round Up allows you to increase your total to the nearest dollar. The difference supports Goodwill’s mission services across Massachusetts and helps create new lives through the power of work.
How Round Up Works
If your purchase totals $18.42, you can choose to round up to $19.00. That $0.58 stays local and supports Goodwill programs across Massachusetts.
There is no separate form and no extra step. The register displays the exact amount needed to round up to the next dollar, and customers may also choose to donate a different amount. It takes seconds at checkout.
Across more than 1.2 million customer transactions last year, those seconds added up. Small amounts, multiplied consistently, became measurable support for local programs.
What Your Change Supported
Round Up supports real programs serving real people.
In 2025:
- 4,071 individuals were served through Goodwill mission services
- 3,536 individuals accessed services through Goodwill Boston Career Center
- 265 individuals participated in job training programs
- 236 individuals engaged in Developmental Services and school-to-work programs
- 34 individuals found employment through AbilityOne, a federal program
These numbers represent individuals learning how to build a resume, prepare for interviews, develop workplace skills, and secure employment.
Round Up supports the stability and confidence that comes with having a job. It supports someone gaining skills, earning a paycheck, and moving toward independence.
This is what creating new lives means.
Why it Matters
A few cents does not seem significant on its own.
Across thousands of transactions, it becomes job training. It becomes career support. It becomes access to opportunity.
Goodwill operates 15 stores and 16 additional donation sites across Massachusetts. Every register interaction is an opportunity to extend the impact of a purchase beyond the sales floor.
In 2025, 89 cents of every dollar spent went directly to programs that helped individuals create new lives. That means when you choose to Round Up, your donated change supports programs that are focused on real workforce outcomes.
A Simple Choice with Local Impact
Round Up keeps support local and practical. It strengthens workforce programs at Goodwill’s training centers in Boston, Beverly, and Springfield, as well as communities across the state.
The next time you hear the question at checkout, you will know exactly what it means.
Your donated change supports career training.
Your donated change supports employment pathways.
Your donated change creates new lives.