A Quick Guide to Charitable Car Donations

If you've wanted to take your giving to the next level, then charitable car donations present a fantastic opportunity to do just that. The good news about charitable car donations is that if you choose an experienced and reliable charity the process is quick and easy. Still, donating your car will require some small effort on your part. This article is designed to take the stress out of car donations for first-time vehicle givers.

The first step toward making charitable car donations is to make a list of possible charities. Each charity does something different with donated cars. The sole purpose of some charities is to collect and redistribute reliable transportation to people in need. Other charities may use any donated vehicles for their own business purposes (like transporting goods and people). And still other charities are more interested in the salable value of a vehicle than the vehicle itself. All of these charities help good causes, but if you're hoping to get a tax deduction for your charitable car donations, then the best charities to choose are those that redistribute or use the cars themselves.

The next step in the donation process is determining the value of your car. There are many wonderful, free resources online. For example, Kelley Blue Book is the leading resource on car value and their website is totally free to use. If you give charitable car donations to non-profit organizations that use the cars themselves or give them to others to use, then usually you can deduct the full market value of your car. If on the other hand you give your car to a charity that resells it to raise funds, you can only deduct the gross sales amount. That's the amount that your car sells for, and as far as your tax deduction is concerned it's usually limited to no more than $500.

Once you've determined the value of your car and the charity you'd like to donate it to, you should fill out an online application or contact that charity directly. Tell them everything they need to know about your car, from basic year and model information to mechanical problems. Most charities accept even non-running vehicles, so there's no reason to try to hide defects. The charity will determine if they can use your car, and then will call back to make arrangements for pick-up. Making charitable car donations requires no investment on the part of the donor; all you have to do is sign over a clear title and give the charity the keys. The charity will pick the car up themselves (running or not) and pay for all necessary maintenance and title transfer fees. In turn, they will give you a receipt for the gross sales amount (when/if the car sells) or for fair market value (in cases where the car is going into direct use).

Remember that there is a special tax form for charitable car donations. You will need to affix your receipt to this form.