You should find the best place to donate a car because donating a car to charity is a great way to help to fund the programs offered by your favorite nonprofit organization. While donating a car to charity, it’s also a good way to get rid of your old car issues. You’ll find many charities don’t handle the vehicle donation process themselves because it costs money and requires lots of manpower. So, usually, they contract with a nonprofit or commercial fundraising organization who handles all of the details. They take a cut of the proceeds and send the rest along to the charity. It’s sorry to say that the car donation industry is crawling with vermin. They will be happy to take the vehicle off your hands under the guise of donating a percentage of the proceeds.
However, it happens too often and the percentage is often as low as 13%. So, it’s essential to donate through a highly reputable intermediary to ensure the charity of your choice gets a fair percentage of the proceeds. It will forward 75% or more of the net proceeds to the charity that you choose. There is an intermediary that passes along 60% to 74% of the net proceeds, which is considered more or less pleasing. But, there is anything less than 60% is offensive. Moreover, it’s a good idea to donate only to charities that are considered highly efficient. It means that at least 75% of their expenses go honestly toward their programs to operate their stated mission. Here are our top seven choices for the best car donation programs with these factors in mind.
But, before we proceed to the best place to donate a car topic, we’ll discuss some related topics first.
Is the Best Place to Donate a Car Tax Deductible?
As you already know that the best place to donate a car is tax deductible. It only happens if you select the charity that’s recognized as an “exempt organization” by the IRS. This is because most often exempt organizations are referred to as 501(c) (3) organizations. So, you must ask if the selected charity keep proof of their non-profit status versatile for donors. Even if you prefer you can also look up the name of a charity on the IRS website. But, if you itemize your deductions on your annual tax return, so keep in mind that charitable contributions are tax deductible. Your charitable gift will not be taken into consideration in the calculation of your taxes when you don’t itemize deductions.
What Does the Best Place to Donate a Car Do the Donated Car?
The charity or the best place to donate a car is required by the IRS to use a donated car in very particular ways. So, they do with the donated car as follows:
- The charity or organization will use the donated car to perform activities that are related to their mission. So, your donated car may be used to transport gardening tools and supplies if the mission of the non-profit is to plant trees and flowers in poor neighborhoods.
- To continue the charitable activities with the profit, the charity sells the donated car
- If the mission of the charity is to help the needy find transportation options, it re-gifts the car to a needy individual.
- Besides, some charities hire a separate company to manage the car donation program. So, double check that the car donation is tax deductible if this is the case. Also, when a business is involved, the deduction does not carry over. In this issue, they receive less from donated cars because the non-profit pays a fee to the company it has hired.
How to Select the Best Place to Donate a Car?
On the light of the above-discussed points, selecting the best place to donate a car can be hard somehow. But, you can break up the process to make it a little easier to accomplish in some ways. The ways are as follows:
- The first thing is you have to find out the cause you like to support through donating a car. You can then find non-profits working in that field accept cars as donation once you know that.
- The next point is that making a list of non-profits you have developed to learn more about how well the non-profit is run. And look them up on a review website, such as Charity Navigator. Narrowing down your choice from several runners-up to the final winner would be the hardest part of this process.
- Try using a site that is the best place to donate a car if you don’t care about what the charity does. And, you just want to donate a car for the tax benefit. Only a portion of the value of the car will go to the non-profit in this case. So, you should also learn about what specific steps need to be taken to make the gift if you’re donating a car.
- Also, there are a number of specific requirements from the IRS. Those are about the kind of receipt you need for your files and how to calculate the value of your car. Before of donating cars to charity, you must understand these all.
Charities or Best Place to Donate a Car
Now, it’s time to get the charity or best place to donate a car. When you donate a car, it opens the door to charities worldwide. They make it easy for the donor to avail the benefit from vehicle donations nationwide. As you know there are many charities are not set up to directly receive vehicles as a donation. This is because the process is somehow complicated, costly and time-consuming. But, the charities will do all as simple as ABC for you when you go to donate a car to them. So, their simple process makes it possible for more charities to get advantages from the kindness of donors such as you. So, let’s know who they receive car donation with the easy and simple process.
List with short details of the Best Place to Donate a Car in the USA
Doctors Without Borders, USA
Donors: 27,604
Founded: 20 December 1971; 46 years ago
Type: Medical humanitarian organization
Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Area served: Worldwide
Website: msf.org
American Red Cross
Donors: 17,631
Formation: May 21, 1881; 137 years ago
Founder: Clara Barton
Purpose: Humanitarian Aid
President: Gail J. McGovern
Website: www.redcross.org
The Nature Conservancy
Donors: 13,420
Founded: 1951 (67 years ago)
Headquarters: Arlington, Virginia, United States
Members: More than 1 million
Key people: Mark R. Tercek (CEO)
Website: nature.org
World Wildlife Fund
Donors: 12,932
Formation: 29 April 1961; 57 years ago (as World Wildlife Fund)
Type: Charitable trust
Purpose: Environmentalism, Conservation & Ecology
Headquarters: Avenue du Mont-Blanc, Gland, Vaud, Switzerland
President: Yolanda Kakabadse
Website: Panda.org, WorldWildlife.org
Natural Resources Defense Council
Donors: 12,530
Established: 1970; 48 years ago
Headquarters: New York, NY, US
Method: Advocacy, education, litigation
Website: nrdc.org
UNICEF USA (Donors 11,866)
Formation: 1947
Type: Children’s Charity
President/CEO: Caryl M. Stern
Website: www.UnicefUSA.org
Save the Children
Donors: 11,158
Founded: 1932
Founder: Eglantyne Jebb, Dorothy Buxton
Location: 501 Kings Highway East, Suite 400, Fairfield, Connecticut 06825, United States
Area served: the United States and Worldwide
Website: www.savethechildren.org
ALSAC – St. Jude Children’s ResearchHospital
Donors: 11,046
Founded: 1962
Location: 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Care system: Private, Charity
Website: www.stjude.org
DAV (Disabled American Veterans) Charitable Service Trust
Donors: 10,033
Formation: September 25, 1920; 97 years ago
Founder: Robert Marx
Type: Veterans’ organization
Headquarters: Cold Spring, Kentucky
Board of directors: DAV Executive Committee
Website: http://www.dav.org/
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Donors: 9,977
Formation: April 10, 1866
Legal status: Foundation
Purpose: Humane care for animals
Headquarters: New York City
President, CEO: Matthew E. Bershadker
Website: www.aspca.org
Some Important Tips for Charities that accept car donations
Below are tips for donors who would like to donate to Charities that accept car donations.
- Be careful that the donor’s tax deductions for car donations may be limited to the price at which the charity sold the car.
- Without involving a third party asks if the charity accepts car donations directly.
- Ensure the charity is eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions. You can request for a copy for the records of the organization’s IRS letter of determination that verifies its tax-exempt status.
Ensure that you get a receipt from the charity for your car donation. - Be conscious of that non-cash donations are one of the most common triggers to an audit by the IRS. So, you’ll want to document the value of the car and keep records of it.
- Save receipts and Take pictures of the car for new tires or other upgrades to verify its value.
- Keep in mind, not the charity, but the donor, who is obligated to value the car and who will pay the penalties if an IRS challenge finds your figure inaccurate.
