# Car donation organizations?



## ricoba (Feb 9, 2007)

We have a car we may want to donate to charity and I know there are lots out there and I understand some are better than others.  Anybody have a good one that has a good reputation and gives most of the proceeds to the charitable organization?


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## Rose Pink (Feb 9, 2007)

We just donated ours to the Kidney Foundation (kidney kars).


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## abbekit (Feb 10, 2007)

We like to keep things local and deal with groups we know.  We donated our last car to our local SPCA.


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## ricoba (Feb 10, 2007)

Those are good selections, but what I am looking for is one of the organizations that you donate to and then you designate which charity will get the proceeds.  I am not looking for a direct donation to a charity.  Sorry for not being clear


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## DebBrown (Feb 11, 2007)

I'm not sure what you mean by organization but I know The Salvation Army accepts car donations.  They will pick up your car at your convenience in most metro areas.

Deb


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## northwoodsgal (Feb 11, 2007)

We donated our last Grand Caravan to St. Vincent de Paul in Madison.


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## EvelynK72 (Feb 12, 2007)

ricoba said:


> Those are good selections, but what I am looking for is one of the organizations that you donate to and then you designate which charity will get the proceeds.  I am not looking for a direct donation to a charity.  Sorry for not being clear



Here are two sites for organizations that will forward the proceeds to the charity of your choice:

http://www.carshelpingamerica.org/

http://www.cars4causes.net/

I haven't used either of these, but saw these URLs listed in an article.


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## dougp26364 (Feb 12, 2007)

ricoba said:


> Those are good selections, but what I am looking for is one of the organizations that you donate to and then you designate which charity will get the proceeds.  I am not looking for a direct donation to a charity.  Sorry for not being clear



You kind of lost me on this one. You don't want to donate directly to a charity but you want to donate to a middle man and then tell that middle man to give the proceeds to a specific charity? Why not cut out the middle man and his comission and just give the car to the charity of your choice? Unless of course that charity does not accept car donations.

As far as charities, Goodwill also accepts cars. I actually bought a car from Goodwill for one of our kids SO's who had made bad decisions that resulted in them not being able to purchase a car. We got our money back from our daughter and her SO over time but, it was a decent car for a reasonable amount of money. Even though they are no longer together, I believe he's still driving that car. Unfortunately for him, his decision making hasn't really improved with time.


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## Don (Feb 12, 2007)

I agree with Doug,why let a middle man take 40% or so off the top when you can give it directly to the charity who will get it all.  If the charity you plan on giving it to doesn't take cars, sell it yourself and donate the proceeds.  To the charity, anything you can get for the car is a 100% donation to them.

I second Rose Pink's choice.


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## Dave M (Feb 12, 2007)

Your advice makes perfect sense. Several years ago, it might have made sense to use a middleman and, if one were aggressive, inflate the value of the deduction for tax purposes. However, a new tax law enacted a couple of years ago limits the charitable deduction to what the recipient sells it for. The seller is required to notify the IRS of the sales price and the name and Social Security of the donor. Thus, there is no tax or other economic advantage to doing it other than as you and Doug suggest.


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