How to Donate A Car or Boat to Charity

Article written by: Laura Coffey

It sounds so simple: Donate your vehicle or boat to charity, avoid the hassles associated with selling it, and score a tax deduction at the same time. Everybody wins, right?

Not necessarily. As the saying goes, the road to h-e-double-hockey-sticks is paved with good intentions, and it can be surprisingly easy to fumble this well-meaning act.Before you hand one of your biggest assets over to anyone, read the following tips to be sure you’re making the right moves.

1. Avoid middlemen. Numerous for-profit intermediary organizations advertise aggressively on TV, billboards and elsewhere, offering to help you donate your vehicle to charity. Here’s the catch: These organizations typically keep about 50 percent to 90 percent of the vehicle’s value for themselves, and the charities don’t get what they could have gotten. To prevent this, check directly with charities you admire and find out whether they accept car or boat donations.

2. Find a worthy charity. If the charities you normally support aren’t equipped to accept such donations, do some homework until you find a reputable charity that is. You can research charities’ track records online at this Better Business Bureau site and through Charity Navigator.  [ READ ENTIRE ARTICLE ]

Trying To Get A Tax Credit For your Car?

By Tom Sample

If you have an old car you'd like to get rid of and have always wanted to help your favorite charity but didn't know how, the answer might be simpler than you think. Nonprofit agencies all over the country take charity car donations and will also accept a number of other motorized vehicles, as well.

Charity car donations come with a few perks that outright sales can never compare with. First, those who make a car donation get the feeling of knowing they've helped an agency that's near and dear to their heart. From those that assist people who are down on their luck to those that fight diseases, there's no shortage of agencies that will accept donations.

The second big perk of a charity car donation is the financial benefit. While a car donation might not come with the financial reward of an outright sale, it will come with a tax deduction. The deduction will vary depending on your personal situation and the value of the charity car donation in real dollars, based on an appraisal, but it can be sizeable. Plus, with the first benefit of a charity car donation, the gain really is priceless.

Nonprofit agencies that accept cars do so for a number of reasons. They can include such things as:

* Assisting people who are down on their luck. Imagine having the power to help a person who is homeless gain employment by being able to say they have reliable transportation. This could literally open the door for a whole new life for the person. Those who make charity car donations don't have to imagine; it can happen. Others who might benefit from a charity car donation include single, working parents who can't afford car payments, youth just getting out of the foster car system who need cars to attend college classes or get to work and so on.
* Helping agencies build their fleets. Car donations and even truck and van donations can assist nonprofits that need vehicles to get their business done. Some of the agencies that accept charity car donations do so for this reason. Donations can help a food bank deliver nourishment to the hungry, assist secondary emergency response or crisis teams arrive on a scene and so on.
* Financial benefits. Some nonprofits that take charity car donations do so for the resale value. By taking old cars off donors' hands, these agencies profit from sales at auction. This can be great for helping the agencies build their resources for carrying out their individual missions.

While it might be an old clunker to you, a charity car donation can be a real boon for a number of different nonprofit agencies. Before you sell off your old car, consider the benefits it could have for a nonprofit and remember you will get a return for the gift at the start of the next year. Car donations are fully tax deductible as long as the agency they are given to is a registered nonprofit. Checking into charity car donations can make a real difference for a nonprofit that's dear to you while giving you a sense of helping that's priceless.

More information on donating a car donate a car http://www.donateacars.com

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