Has anyone had recent experience with "Donate for a Cause"

[krakello]

We got a response to our classified ad selling a Mayan Palace timeshare, from the Children's Home in Mt. Holly NJ, asking us if we would consider donating our timeshare (which would relieve us of our mainetance fee obligation) and asked us to contact "Donate for a Cause" to see if our timeshare is eligible. I found some older posts but am wondering if anyone has had recent experience with this organization. Are they legit? Thanks,

 

[Rent_Share]

They are expensive

They are rumored to actually record the deed in their name (double closing, hence the expense)

They provide questionable tax advice to encourage you to pay their fees

 

[timesharepro]

Donate for a Cause

I am the VP of Donate for a Cause. This is the first time I have heard of a charity actually soliciting donors they find in classified ads.

We do double deed everything. If the property is not deeded into the charity the donor can not claim it as a donation. If you search for "Project Philanthropy, Inc" in the county records in Florida (easiest state to do it) you will see all of the deeds into PPI, and all of the deeds out of PPI. Donate for a Cause is a DBA of Project Philanthropy, Inc.

Our donation price is cheaper than all PPC that we have come across. There are certainly fly by night companies who charge less and don't perform but that business model has never made sense for us.

I don't think we want to get into the tax savings argument again. Our program makes sense for a lot of people, but naturally doesn't fit everyone's needs.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

John Kushman

 

[krakello]

Thanks. I was suprised as well that a charity contacted us to see if we wanted to donate our timeshare, which is what made me a bit suspicious. I was never offered tax advice by DFC, would not expect them to be tax experts in my situation. But the "cost" of donating was steep, whether it is the double title issue or because the time share market has dried up, I am not sure. In any event, we are happy to donate our time share to get rid of mainetance fees, but do not want to have to pay bucks to unload it.

 

[flexible]

I am the VP of Donate for a Cause. This is the first time I have heard of a charity actually soliciting donors they find in classified ads.

We do double deed everything. If the property is not deeded into the charity the donor can not claim it as a donation. If you search for "Project Philanthropy, Inc" in the county records in Florida (easiest state to do it) you will see all of the deeds into PPI, and all of the deeds out of PPI. Donate for a Cause is a DBA of Project Philanthropy, Inc.

Our donation price is cheaper than all PPC that we have come across. There are certainly fly by night companies who charge less and don't perform but that business model has never made sense for us.

I don't think we want to get into the tax savings argument again. Our program makes sense for a lot of people, but naturally doesn't fit everyone's needs.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

John Kushman

Hello John Kushman,

Nice to see your post. I reviewed your website.

Since you might possibly be able to offer an opinion or advice, I thought I'd try.

I have seen families with "Make a Wish" TShirts on some of the planes we've been on. Often a fairly large group of at least eight people including a child that appears to have serious health problems.

I also heard that some organizations (Perhaps USO) offer vacations to military families.

Are some timeshare donations used by those type of organizations BECAUSE it is part of their mission or charter to provide accommodations to needy families or military.

OR is it UNLIKELY that they accept DONATIONS of DEEDED or RTU timeshares because the MF committment is too much of a burden.

Is it more likely that these TYPES of charities ONLY accept a timeshare interval or week they could use for a specific purpose. (I am aware of the IRS recent ruling regarding "partial interest" DISALLOWED as a deduction. ONLY "full interest" MIGHT be deductible.

Is the general idea of your company that ANY proceeds from the sale of potentially profitable timeshares can then be partly donated to charities listed on your website.

Thanks
Flexible

 

[DeniseM]

Please consider giving your timeshare away to a private individual who would like to own it, before you spend a cent with a company like this.

Why?
-You can give it away yourself for nearly no cost.
-You can control the transfer process to make sure it is truly transferred out of your name.
-You won't have to deal with companies that may or may not be Legit.
-You can transfer it to a private individual who will be happy to have it for their own use.
-You will have the satisfaction of knowing that you ended your ownership legally and ethically.

There are TWO places on TUG where you can give away your TS's for free (no charge for the Ads.) THEY ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT - SO YOU SHOULD POST IN BOTH AREAS. There are other cheap and free sites on the internet, as well.

TUG Marketplace - the only cost is your TUG membership - $15 (List it for $1 and it will automatically go in the Bargain Basement Ads.)

Bargain Deals - Totally FREE! - just write a simple post with all the pertinent info. In your post, include the following info.:

-resort name
-unit size
-season owned
-maintenance fee
-current reservations​

To make it more attractive I would:

1) Pay the 2012/2013 maintenance fees and don't ask for reimbursement.

2) Pay for the title transfer (you can get a simple title transfer with no escrow or title search for about $100.) Many Tuggers (including me) have been using Legal Timeshare Transfers, a no frills document preparation company, and they are receiving good reviews on TUG.:

Legal Timeshare Transfers/Ready Legal
Lisa Short and Mary Pless
http://legaltimesharetransfers.com/
1.706.219.2709

3) Reserve a popular holiday week in 2012/13 for the new owner

4) Instead of paying a fee to a rescue company - consider offering a cash incentive to the new owner.

5) Here is the very important step that most people miss: Come back to TUG once a week and add more info. to your thread - this will bump it to the top of the page.​

Good luck!

 

[pacodemountainside]

I would go with Denise's sage advice. If you are willing to spend several hundred, why not offer in your ad.

Most of the charity auctions listings I have seen include all closing costs, so original owner has to put up a couple thousand to cover plus interm MF and charity make a few bucks.

If a legitimate charity, this does give donor a 25% or whatever tax bracket they are in a legal deduction.

However, for tax payer to claim a deduction for some undocumented $5K and completing IRS Form 8283 when charity sells for a buck is inviting untold grief!

 

[ronparise]

My experience with donate for a cause is on the other end of their business. I bought a timeshare from them..(actually several) Presumably what I bought had been donated by someone else.

All good transactions: Someone that didnt want a timeshare got rid of it, and someone else (me) is happy making mf payments. Donate for a cause made some money, and a charity got some too...everybody is happy

 

[timesharepro]

Hello John Kushman,

Nice to see your post. I reviewed your website.

Since you might possibly be able to offer an opinion or advice, I thought I'd try.

I have seen families with "Make a Wish" TShirts on some of the planes we've been on. Often a fairly large group of at least eight people including a child that appears to have serious health problems.

I also heard that some organizations (Perhaps USO) offer vacations to military families.

Are some timeshare donations used by those type of organizations BECAUSE it is part of their mission or charter to provide accommodations to needy families or military.

OR is it UNLIKELY that they accept DONATIONS of DEEDED or RTU timeshares because the MF committment is too much of a burden.

Is it more likely that these TYPES of charities ONLY accept a timeshare interval or week they could use for a specific purpose. (I am aware of the IRS recent ruling regarding "partial interest" DISALLOWED as a deduction. ONLY "full interest" MIGHT be deductible.

Is the general idea of your company that ANY proceeds from the sale of potentially profitable timeshares can then be partly donated to charities listed on your website.

Thanks
Flexible

Flexible,

We get contacted at least once a week from a non-profit organization who has taken a timeshare in as a donation and don't know what to do with it. The larger ones have learned not to take them in because they simply don't know what to do with them.

I know the USO has access to timeshare inventory (not sure if RCI/II or some combination of the two). It is very similar to many vacation clubs, just only offered through USO.

We have used our inventory for charitable fundraising events. The ones that seem to work the best are auctions for one week, instead of the ownership of the timeshare.

All of the proceeds from the sale of the timeshares donated through DFC are given to charity. The donor can choose to give to whatever charity they desire. If they don't choose a charity then the proceeds are split between the charities listed on our website. Not counting ebay sales, I have sold over $240,000 worth of donated properties since the first of the year, with the proceeds of those sales going to charity (Thats not 240,000 units at $1, I promise). Ebay sales of donated properties in the last 90 days just surpassed $200,000. Again those proceeds are going to charity.

I agree with Denise in that tug is a great way to give away your timeshare (or sell it) I advertise often here and have had great success. However, not everyone is capable of listing it for sell themselves, and many people recognize the tax benefits of donating and the benefit of not having to deal with the sale/transfer themselves. Also, you would be surprised how many timeshare owners have almost zero knowledge of what they actually own. This makes it difficult when trying to divest of the property.

Let me know if you have any more questions.
John

 

[sb2313]

My experience with donate for a cause is on the other end of their business. I bought a timeshare from them..(actually several) Presumably what I bought had been donated by someone else.

All good transactions: Someone that didnt want a timeshare got rid of it, and someone else (me) is happy making mf payments. Donate for a cause made some money, and a charity got some too...everybody is happy

my experience has been the same as ron's. I have acquired a couple of timeshares from them and each time the transaction has been quite smooth.

 

[theo]

Better options should be pursued FIRST

Regardless of the fact that DFAC will put a new deed into another name (...for a fee of $1,800 or so, plus closing costs), it would seem to me to always make a whole lot more sense to first try to give the week away for free instead to a new home and willing recipient, even if you have to pay the closing costs yourself to do so (through a known and respected closing entity of your own selection).

Do the math --- $300 to a closing company or $2,000+ to DFAC? Hmmm....let me think about it...

DFAC might be an acceptable source from which to purchase, if they happen to offer something you want, but IMnsHO it's certainly no way to go to part company with an ownership, unless as a truly desperate last "resort" (...no pun intended) and you are ready and willing to (probably unnecessarily) "go to the hip" in a four figure way, just to rid yourself of an unwanted ownership.