Insider info on Car Donations for Charity
CAR DONATION FOR CHARITY AND SMILES
Buying a new car is always an exciting time. There are lots of new models with ever changing features that you would probably love to have in your driveway.
But what about your old car? Selling it privately can be a real drag. Advertising is expensive, even then you are not guaranteed to get any phone calls. And just when you get somebody interested in the car they make such a low offer for it that you may as well give it away.
The good news is that you can give your old vehicle away and get the Fair Market Value for it in the shape of a hefty tax rebate. In the year 2003, nearly ¾’s of a million people took a car donation deduction on their federal tax returns, thusly lowering their taxes by over $650 million.
There are hundreds of worthwhile causes who run car donation schemes and whether you want to donate to cancer research, animal shelters or feeding the homeless, there is almost certainly somebody who can channel the money from your old car into a cause that you have sympathy with.
Unfortunately, as is the case with anything that has money involved, there are some companies that exploit this system and potential donators should be wary.
If at all possible, find a charity that will deal with your donation directly. Try to avoid the for-profit intermediary organizations that advertise so pervasively to handle your car donations. When you work with one of these organizations, they keep the vast majority of the dollars created from your donation. Even the most reputable of the agencies that handle these transactions keep nearly 50% of the car’s value for their troubles (other, less scrupulous entities keep 90%, or even more). If you can find a charity that handles the transaction themselves, they can keep 100% of their profits. If you do have to donate via an intermediary try to find an agency that maximizes that amount of proceeds that goes to the cause, and call the charity to confirm that percentage before you give. The charities are reluctant to criticize the middlemen, because they don’t want to lose the dollars they do receive, but state attorney generals are beginning to investigate and even prosecute these for-profit middlemen, for holding themselves out as charities and misleading the public on the amount that is actually reaching charitable causes.
It is true that the biggest winner in the car donation game is usually the donor, and not the charity recipient. But if you take your time, ignore the quick and easy television appeals, and find a reputable, high-performing charity that will make the most of your donation, everyone can emerge better off.
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