Car Donations - A Big Help to Charities and a Help to You Too

What do you do when you've bought a new car and want to get rid of the old? Some people try to sell it privately. More people than ever are opting do donate. Donating a used car to a charity can help a charity significantly but it can also help you too.

Car Donations - A Big Help to Charities and a Help to You Too

How does a donating your old car help you?

It can be a daunting task to sell an older car. Not only do you have to respond to queries and deal with time wasters but not everyone enjoys the haggling that goes along with someone trying to "wheel and deal" with you. Besides, the longer the old car sits on your property, the faster it's going to depreciate in value (as well as being in your way!). We all know that trade in values are minuscule from car dealerships, especially in the current economy!

Car donations help you unload that old car quickly and easily with benefits to a charity and to you. It can definitely help you at tax time! When you donate a car you can get a tax receipt for a value that might even be greater than the amount of money you'd sell the car for. It's typically much higher than scrap value so even a car that's not in very good shape can fetch a donation receipt that can help you at tax time. When you add up the time and hassle savings with the benefit of an IRS tax receipt, this could be a great idea.

Not only will you help yourself when you donate a car to charity at tax time but you're doing something fantastic for that charity. Charitable organizations can use your donation several ways including:

- Selling the used car at auction
- Donating the used car to an individual or family who's life would be enhanced by having transportation
- Sending the car to an automotive school where people can be trained and gain skills to get jobs and then the car can be sold for a profit to that charitable organization
- The car parts from a used car could be marketed individually to benefit the charity as well.

How do you donate your car to charity?

There are charities that accept used vehicles donated to them directly but due to the logistics of getting the vehicle, managing the transfer of ownership, handling the receipt, and other such administrative tasks, a lot of charities look to an organization that will manage this process from start to finish for them. The management does include a fee but is typically much lower than the cost of the administrative tasks associated with the charity doing this themselves. The person who donates does not have to pay a fee and any fees do not come out of your amount on your tax receipt!

By finding a vehicle donation center to deal with, you can make the donation process simple. With a quick call or e-mail you can arrange to get an evaluation of your vehicle, arrange pick up and get your IRS tax receipt. Some car donation centers even provide a list of supported charities so you can decide who will benefit from your generosity as well.

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