How do we count goods we buy and donate?

Count goods you buy to donate as purchased goods, Scope 3 Category 1, in the year you buy them. If you donate your own products, their production is already in your Scope 1 and 2. Use of sold products and end of life cover sold goods, so donated items usually stay out of them.

Examples

• Blankets bought for a relief drive: Category 1.
• Your own food products given to a food bank: production already counted.
• Transport you pay for to deliver them: Category 4.

Disclose

If donations are large, note them so readers see why purchases rose without sales.

What Senseible does here

Senseible keeps purchase invoices on the Scope 3 trail with the category, method and factor source on every line, so spend-based estimates are labelled as estimates and can be replaced with supplier data later.

• Diwali gifts for customers
• Product samples to buyers

Sources: GHG Protocol Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard

Last reviewed 2026-10-22.