Donating a car or any vehicle solves many problems; one, it avoids the strain of selling a used car at a cheaper price, plus a great sense of fulfillment by supporting a charity you admire. So now let us brainstorm on the ways to donate a vehicle, which may be a car, RV, truck, motorcycle, or bike, to any deserving recipient and the things you will get in return.
Contact a Charity or Car Donation Service
The viable starting point in your car donation process will be either contacting prominent charities or car donation service providers.
For this, you have to share the basic information about the vehicle you want to donate in terms of its make, model, and vehicle identification number (VIN) so that a representative can contact you at the earliest.
No problem whether the car or any other vehicle you wanted to donate is in working condition or not; the charity and its partner agency will pick up the vehicle and let you receive a fair market tax receipt.
It may be your loved Toyota, Camry, Rav 4, Supra, Land cruiser, Prius, Ford, Chevrolet, Jeep, or Bronco that will delight you as the vehicle becomes a catalyst for supporting humanitarian causes for the betterment of communities.
Car Donation Earns Tax Benefits
You will be happy to see good tax benefits in the year-end tax filings when a tax credit cuts down your tax liability or enhance the tax refunds by the same amount. The benefits you actually get will largely depend on whether or not you choose to itemize your deductions or simply take the standard deduction. This usually depends on the tax bracket you claim. Ultimately, the 2022 federal tax brackets are based on income and they play a major role in how your taxes are calculated.
All Vehicles Accepted as Donations
Most charities accept vehicle donations and are limited to cars. However, they are open to taking any vehicle, including recreational vehicles (RV), Trailers, Motor Homes, boats, motorcycles, snowmobiles, Jet Skis, and All-terrain vehicles. There are even nonprofits accepting tractors and airplanes as well.
However, the best car donation charities will not directly involve in the vehicle donation process. Instead, they work through outsourced service partners to manage the car donation plan.
They may be car donation services or vehicle auction houses, which will have a cut of the sale price and pay them an average of 70 percent of the sale proceeds to the charity.
How Costs of Car Donation are Managed
You will come to know the costs and fees in the donation process. First, the intermediary at the front end will have to bear these costs, and subsequently, they will deduct their costs from the gross sale price. The costs include charges of free pickup, towing costs, title transfer fees, and costs of auction or scrapping fees.
Why Car Donation Matters
The price of cars often falls to rock-bottom levels. So if your car is a junker, do not expect any tangible return or tax deduction. On the other hand, if you have a car that is good to use, it can help a charity, as the donation could be significant.
Your car’s fairly decent working conditions will help a charity to expand the good work you admire. When you provide a vehicle for a charity, it can put the vehicle to many uses, including delivering meals to the poor and elderly or any activity that promotes its charitable mission.
You will also escape the hassles of selling a car by yourself. You can avoid the cost of newspaper ads and the headache of dealing with numerous phone calls. Also, it is a considerable time loss waiting for potential buyers and showing the car, and then haggling for the right selling price.
Top Charities Accepting Vehicle Donations
Car Donation Provider ‘Donate A Car’: Donate A Car is a vehicle donation service by the North American auto auction company. It picks up all vehicles for auctions and helps the donor to support the 300-plus charity partners on its list. The donor can choose the charity he wanted to support from the list.
‘Donate A Car’ will give 70 percent or more of the sale price to partner charities. They include animal charities and humanitarian charities, including the Red Cross. The process is simple. You fill out a donation form with your contact information and the details of the vehicle you want to donate.
Alternatively, you call 800-237-5714 so that a representative can arrange a free pickup. Donate A Car will mail you a receipt five days into the pickup. And in the next 30 days, you will receive a Form 1098-C after the vehicle is sold and the price is more than $500.
Red Cross: Vehicle donation to the Red Cross Vehicle Donation Program will be an opportunity to do your bit in reducing human suffering from emergencies. The vehicle donation has been made easily at Red Cross. The whole process will be over in 30 days.
CARS (Charitable Adult Rides & Services)– The Red Cross vendor will work with you to arrange to pick up the vehicle.
You can contact the Red Cross partner via the donation line at 1-855-92RC CAR or 1-855-927-2227.
The partner tow company will pick up your vehicle free of cost and also provide you with a tax acknowledgment as soon as the vehicle has been sold. This program runs in all 50 states.
American Diabetes Association: The American Diabetes Association accepts vehicle donations and will depute a car donation service to you to finalize the procedures to send the donated vehicle to auction.
The proceeds will fund the charity’s programs. In addition, vehicles unfit to run will go for recycling to realize the value of their scrap metal and parts. You can contact the American Diabetes Association at 800-232-6570 or fill up the online for car donations.
Suppose your donated vehicle was sold for more than $500. In that case, the American Diabetes Association will send you a receipt containing the vehicle identification number (VIN), date of sale, gross proceeds of the sale, and the date of donation, within a month.
Car for CARE: CARE (Cooperative assistance and relief everywhere) is a global nonprofit body. It accepts cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, snowmobiles, trailers, or RVs to the Cars for CARE Vehicle Donation Program. The sale proceeds support its programs.
To donate your vehicle, call 888-755-5452. Car Donation Wizard, the vehicle donation service company, manages the transaction and schedules a free pickup within 48 hours.
Once the vehicle is sold, you will get a tax receipt to help you claim tax benefits from the donation.
Habitat for Humanity: Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit committed to affordable housing in the U.S. and worldwide. Habitat for Humanity accepts car donations via Car Donation Wizard. It resells donated vehicles and releases the maximum from vehicle donation sales to the tune of 78 to 86 percent to the concerned charity.
To kick start the car donation plan, fill out the online form or call the organization at 877-277-4344. A representative will drop in to pick up your vehicle for free.
Goodwill Car Donation: There are a few steps for Goodwill car donation: fill up the vehicle donation form or call Goodwill Car Donations at 855- 980-0171.
This follows a free vehicle pickup at a convenient time, and in a few weeks, you will receive IRS tax-deductible receipts to save taxes on the donated car to Goodwill Car Donations.
Goodwill Car Donations provide disadvantaged people and families across the country with many services like job training, employment opportunities, and other support. When you donate a car to Goodwill, you are joining the initiative.
Goodwill accepts all types of vehicles, irrespective of the condition. The vehicles can be cars, SUVs, trucks, trailers, golf carts, RVs, motorcycles, and water vessels. The car donor to Goodwill will receive the maximum tax deduction.
Latest Changes in Car Donation Legalities
Unlike prior to004, donating a car to charity is now very democratic, with no gaming with tax deductions. Earlier, people would rake in thousands of dollars worth of tax deductions by voluntary set off. But Congress halted it by promulgating the American Jobs Creation Act 2004, limiting the maximum deduction for a donated car, truck, boat, or plane valued more than $500.
The new law mandated that the deduction amount be the exact amount the car has rendered to the charity, and a receipt must document it from the charity to the donor. So now the pathways are very transparent encouraging car donationsby all generous people.