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Donate Your Car To Charity

Many of us don’t want the hassle of selling or trading an older vehicle that isn’t worth much anyway. An alternative is donating the vehicle to charity. Choosing to donate your vehicle not only provides money to organizations that are often in desperate need – and hopefully do good work – but you receive a tax write-off. Many charities will accept:

• cars
• trucks
• RVs
• campers
• motorcycles
• boats

Charities may sell your vehicle and use the proceeds to fund their work. Alternatively, if your vehicle is in running order they may decide to use it in thier own programs. An example of the latter is the American Family Charity
that actually provides vehicles to families in need.

The Better Business Bureau estimates that up to 10,000 vehicles are donated to charities in large urban areas each year. When these vehicles are sold it results in $4 to $5 million being added to the charities coffers. This means that the average vehicle donation results in $400 to $500 going to the charities before the expense of processing the vehicle prior to sale. 

$5,000,000 divided by 10,000 = $500.

Most charities will pick up your vehicle at no cost to you. This is particularly useful if the vehicle is not in running order or hasn’t passed a required smog or emissions test.  Don’t have the title? That won’t matter in most circumstances. However, check with the specific charity that you are considering to see if they will take your vehicle without a title.

My Experience

A few years ago while living in Chico, CA my Jeep Cherokee was on its last legs, so to speak. No wonder – the odometer was registering almost 200,000 miles. I owned it free and clear but didn’t have the title. I knew I wouldn’t get much for it if I went through the hassle of selling it privately so I decided to donate it to charity.

Dave Thomas – Whether it’s choosing a career or deciding what charity to get involved with, the choice should come from your heart.

Which one? As I looked around for a good cause to donate my Jeep Cherokee to I kept being reminded of a friend who had a relative living on the streets of Chico. Mental illness had taken its toll on this troubled 40-year old resulting in him struggling to survive as one of many homeless in the area. I was deeply touched by the devastating toll it took on the man, on my friend, and on their family.

Due in large part to the mental illness, there was little the family could do to directly improve the practical living situation of their family member. Instead, they set out to help the organizations that help the homeless. They volunteered at food kitchens and supported food drives, clothing drives, and fund raising.

Adversity 

Every family in America is touched by tragedy and heartbreak. Physical illness, mental illness, and financial catastrophe of one sort or another – we don’t have to venture far to see what touches our hearts.  I was touched by the plight of the homeless in my local area and I decided that I would donate my vehicle to an organization that was actively working to help those most in need. It wasn’t long before I found the single organization that did more hands-on-work with the homeless than any other in the community. I donated my SUV to them.

I was worried that I didn’t have a title to my Cherokee. However, the charity took care of the DMV paperwork to replace and transfer the title. All I had to do was sign a form that they provided. They picked up the vehicle from my home and the entire process was simple and pain-free.

Tax Deduction!

When you donate your vehicle to charity you not only help those in need, but you side-step the hassle of selling a clunker on Craigslist.org or through your local newspaper, AND you have the opportunity to keep more money in your pocket by paying the government less tax. Here is how it works:

• Generally, if the charity sells your vehicle you receive a federal tax deduction limited to the amount the charity received from its sale. The charity will provide a receipt. 
• The only way you can deduct your charitable contribution is if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A of Form 1040 on your federal tax return.
• There are specific requirements if the vehicle sells for more than $500, with more requirements if the vehicle sells for more than $5,000. See the IRS guide below for details.
• If the charity does not to sell your vehicle, deciding instead to put it to use in its program, then different rules apply for valuing your deduction. See the IRS guide below for those details.

The IRS has a free guide that can help you through the process of donating your vehicle to charity. This PDF download is short and fairly easy to understand - A Donor’s guide To Vehicle Donations.