Filmmaking Equipment Donations to LIFT

Please read this page before contacting the Technical Department at tech@lift.ca with any filmmaking equipment you’re looking to donate. 

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Thank you for considering donating filmmaking equipment to the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT).

As a charitable organization, equipment donations benefit LIFT and the broader community we serve. Think of your donation as a nice way to give back to Toronto’s filmmaking community!
When you donate to LIFT, you have the option of donating in-kind, or you can request a charitable tax receipt if the equipment is a) accepted by LIFT and b) in good, working order. Please read the following guidelines to better understand how equipment donations work, and how we process your tax receipt.

  1. LIFT reserves the right to refuse donations. Please do not drop off equipment donations without making a prior appointment or contacting LIFT’s Technical Department via email first through tech@lift.ca. Please send us an e-mail with a list of equipment you’re looking to donate, as well as photos of the equipment.
  2. LIFT will generate tax receipts for items in good, working order, or for parts on a case-by-case basis.
  3. LIFT will assess the items donated within 85% of the value for new or still-available-to-purchase filmmaking equipment, or at the used market rate for older filmmaking equipment. If your analogue items are untested, then we will have to tax receipt them as parts or untested. Serious cosmetic damage, missing parts, or damaged parts will affect the value of the tax receipt.
  4. We only generate tax receipts upon request. When liaising with the Technical Department, please specify you are looking for a charitable tax receipt. You will then need to provide your:
    • Legal name for tax purposes
    • Full Mailing Address (address, apartment, city, postal code)
    • Email
    • Phone Number (Cell/Home if applicable)
  5. LIFT does not provide tax receipts for certain expendables such as: film stock, gaffing tapes, splicing tapes, diffusion, gels, etc. These items will be considered in-kind donation items. We do generate tax receipts for sealed/unused analogue video tapes, wratten filters, projector or miscellaneous bulbs, and other items on a case-by-case basis.
  6. LIFT will be in contact within 6-8 weeks if a tax receipt is requested with an assessment of the valued items. If you are unhappy with your assessment, we ask that you please pick up your items within 2 weeks of hearing from us so that the items are not considered in-kind donations.
  7. If the items are of a significantly high value, we will need to contact a third party assessor. This might delay the timeline of your assessment, but we will get in contact and let you know if that is the case.
  8. LIFT will mail out your tax receipts to your mailing address. We can send e-mail copies by request only.
  9. Items donated in a certain fiscal year can only be tax receipted for that year (ie. we cannot tax receipt an item donated in 2025 for 2026).
  10. Items dropped off at the LIFT facility can only be given to LIFT’s Technical Staff, and cannot be dropped off with other staff members.

We are currently accepting donations for:

  • Cameras (all types, digital, analogue film, analogue video, cinema, photography).
  • VCRs and tape decks of any kind (Beta, Hi-8, miniDV, DV, VHS, etc – if it’s not on this list, please reach out anyway).
  • EIKI brand projectors for 16mm Film Projectors (working order OR parts!)
  • ELMO brand projectors for Super8 Film Projectors (working order OR parts!)
  • Camera accessories (wireless follow focuses, follow focuses, monitors, transmitters)
  • Camera support, video tripods, dollies (dana dolly), track
  • Lenses of any kind, lens supports, rods, etc.
  • Cases (carrying cases, camera bags, travel cases, foam, etc)
  • Filters (3×3, 4×4, 4×5.6, and 138mm circular filters only)
  • Computers (Windows 98 machines, iMacs/Macbook Pros post-2019, can accept others by request, please inquire)
  • Super8, 16mm, 35mm Guillotine Splicers
  • Super8, 16mm, 35mm Viewers (certain brands/models only – please inquire!)
  • Lighting equipment (LED, Tube, Panel Lighting)
  • Grip equipment
  • Sound equipment (recorders, mixers, lavalier microphones, shotgun microphones, on-camera microphones, etc).
  • Speakers
  • Film Developing Equipment (tanks, stirrers, thermometers)
  • Media cards (SD, CFast, CFExpress, etc – QUALIFIES FOR TAX RECEIPT)
  • Film stock, diffusion, gels (DOES NOT QUALIFY FOR TAX RECEIPT)

We are NOT accepting donations for:

  • Dual 8mm Projectors
  • Projector Screens
  • Hot-lights/tungsten lights/red-heads
  • Photo enlargers
  • Miscellaneous film-editing supplies without photos first
  • Random filters without photos first
  • Film developing chemistries of any kind