Work Life Tips

Donate Car For Charity Tip: It’s a good idea to check out a charity before you donate your vehicle. Learn about its mission and how it uses vehicle donations. Also be prepared to answer questions about your vehicle donation and to fill out an application form.
What is the condition of your car? Is there a lien against it? Have you located the title?
It’s common for charities to accept car donations and other vehicle donations, no matter the condition. But charities do have varying standards. Some charities refuse very old cars. Others will sell an auto for parts and don’t mind if the vehicle doesn’t run.
These days most charities sell vehicle donations and use the money to benefit causes, though the organizations do bear costs for processing the vehicles.

Most cars, trucks, vans, trailers, boats, RVs, and even airplanes are items that can be donated. In most cases, these vehicles need not even be operational to be of value to a charitable organization. Be aware that some farm equipment and commercial vehicles may not be accepted by some charities or vehicle donation programs, or may be subject to different IRS rules and guidelines.

Donate Car For Charity Tip: The best thing about vehicle donations is you can make them anytime, from just about anywhere in the United States.
If you plan to take a tax deduction when you donate your vehicle, give yourself plenty of time to make the transfer and collect required documents.
The bottom line is: Allow yourself time to complete the process in the tax year for which you want the write-off.
Typically, a charity can collect your vehicle within two weeks after you complete an application form. Some can do it in a few days. Many major charities — or the fundraisers that represent them — have large outreach programs that enable them to collect from just about any town.
Leave time to find your vehicle title, or replace a lost one. Your local department of motor vehicles may take two to three weeks to mail you a new title. If your vehicle is worth more than $5,000, you may be required to get an appraisal shortly before the transfer. You cannot use an old appraisal.
After you make the vehicle donation, the charity likely will sell it. You will need a written acknowledgement of the sale to attach to your income tax forms, if the car is valued at more than $500. The charity is responsible for sending you an acknowledgement in 30 days after it resells the car.

The Better Business Bureau offers general advice to people who want to make vehicle donations:
* Do research and ask professionals for help.
* Seek legal and financial advice before you donate your car. Does it make financial sense to donate your vehicle? Is the charity able to meet your giving needs?
* Get the charity’s annual report and read it. Find out how the charity managed its budget in the last fiscal year, including how it spent income from vehicle donations.
* Ask the charity how it uses donated vehicles. Does it resell them at wholesale prices? Or does it refurbish the vehicles for disadvantaged families that need transportation?
* Get receipts. Make sure the receipt has the registered charity’s identification number on it.
* Check with your state Attorney General’s Office to make sure the charity is registered as a 501(c)3.
* Contact the Better Business Bureau to find out if it has information on file about the charity and its vehicle donations.

Car donations in the Atlanta are quick and easy because of FCF’s extensive network in the area. These donations are, of course, subject to the same policies and procedures as car donations throughout Georgia. Donate a Car for Charity, part of the Family Care Foundation (FCF), an IRS-registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, offers free vehicle pick-up in the metropolitan Atlanta area, throughout the state of Georgia, and nationwide.

If you plan to make a Florida car donation, you may want to consult the free “Gift Giver’s Guide” to charities, offered by the state Division of Consumer Services.
The guide lists registered charities in Florida, their missions, and some finanical information.
When making a Florida car donation for a tax deduction, donors must make sure that the charity is registered as a 501(c)3.
It is up to the consumer to check the background of these charities. For the free guide, go online to: 800help.fla.com

In addition to registered charities nationwide, you can donate a car to aide charities in Texas. The Local Independence Charities of Texas (www.lic.org) is an IRS-recognized federation of local nonprofit charitable organizations that are helping children, the poor, the ill and disabled, the elderly and many others in need. You can search their site for information on charities in Texas.

Car donation programs and services exist throughout Texas, with vehicle pick-up available in most areas. Vehicles donated in Texas to a non-profit classified with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization are deductible from your federal income taxes. In most cases, the state of Texas requires that the donor have the vehicle title and transfer it to the charity. If you do not have title papers, refer to the Texas Motor Vehicle Registration and Titling Department for details on how to proceed. To release liability of your donated vehicle in Texas, follow the same procedure as your would if you were selling the vehicle. Refer to Texas’s Department of Transportation (TxDOT) web site for more details.

Car donations in Miami-Dade county are subject to the same policies and procedures as car donations throughout Florida. Donate a Car for Charity, part of the Family Care Foundation (FCF), an IRS-registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, offers vehicle pick-up in Miami, as well as throughout the state of Florida and nationwide.

A few of the charities that accept a Florida car donation and specifically serve Floridians include First Tee Central Coast, the Florida Council of the Blind, Florida Gulf Coast Paralyzed Veterans of America, the Humane Society of Sarasota County, Inc., and the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Inc. Ask other local charities that you want to help if they accept vehicle donations directly or through a car donation service.