| In the past few years many charities have found they | | | | Don't be afraid to ask the charity a lot of questions. |
| can raise money through car donation programs and | | | | You want to be certain you know how much the |
| provide you with a car donation tax deduction. These | | | | charity will receive and what they plan to use it for. |
| programs can be a goldmine and the charity can | | | | Sometimes charities sell the vehicle and don't actually |
| make a lot of money for its charitable activities. They | | | | get a lot of money for the vehicle. Sometimes it's |
| stand to make a lot more money if they do all the | | | | given to a needy person. Sometimes it's used to |
| management themselves. However they must | | | | transport charity goods to and from various locations. |
| manage it correctly. | | | | Find this out if this is important to you. |
| Many charities prefer to hire companies that specialize | | | | There are many well-known charities that are looking |
| in handling car donations. They charge fairly high fees | | | | for charitable car donations. You want to ask these |
| however. In some cases the charity may only earn 60 | | | | charities these same questions also. These charities |
| cents on the dollar or less, for example. | | | | include Target, Purple Heart, Kidney Foundation and |
| Most people have no idea that the charity actually | | | | Goodwill Industries for example. There are many |
| ends up with a lot less money than they think. The | | | | others. Many charities have their own used car lots |
| donor may never find out exactly what this figure is. | | | | and have salesmen selling the donated vehicles. |
| If you're thinking about donating a car, truck, RV, boat, | | | | If you donate using one of the charity car donation |
| or any other vehicle to get a good tax deduction, you'll | | | | programs instead of working with the charity, you |
| want to check the charity out thoroughly first. Call | | | | need to know they handle the donated cars, trucks |
| them up and ask if they handle their own program or if | | | | and other vehicles for several or many charities not |
| it's farmed out to one of the many charitable car | | | | just one. |
| donation programs. You may have a specific charity in | | | | Make sure you proceed carefully if you decide to |
| mind. | | | | donate your car or other vehicle. It's a good way to |
| This doesn't mean you shouldn't go ahead if they don't | | | | support a charity, or your favorite charity if they have |
| handle it themselves but just know they won't end up | | | | a program, and provide you with a great car donation |
| with all the money either. Many charities are not in a | | | | tax deduction. Just make sure you know that the |
| position to do the management and all that's entailed in | | | | donation may not end up bringing in the amount of |
| handling the vehicles. | | | | money you might think, if it's sold. |