Top 7 Car Donation Programs
Donating your car to charities is a great way to get rid of your old car while helping fund programs from your favorite nonprofit organization. Most charities do not deal with the car donation process themselves, which costs money and requires a lot of manpower. Instead, they usually contract with a business or non-profit fundraising organization, which handles all the details, takes part of the proceeds, and sends the rest to the charity.
Unfortunately, the car donation industry is crawling with the hums who would be happy to lift the car off your hands under the guise of donating a percentage of the proceeds from its sale, but often, this percentage is often as low as 13 percent.
To ensure that the charity of your choice receives a fair percentage of the proceeds, it is necessary to donate through a very reputable broker who redirects 75 per cent or more of the net proceeds to the charity of your choice. A broker that passes 60 to 74 percent of net revenue is fairly satisfactory, but anything less than 60 percent is unacceptable.
In addition, it is good to donate only to charities that are considered 'highly efficient', which means that at least 75 per cent of their expenses go directly to their programmes to enhance their declared mission.
With these factors in mind, here are the top seven options for the best car donation programs, included in any given order.
1. One car, one difference
One car, one difference is a public awareness campaign run by the Auto Auctions Insurance Department, which deals with all aspects of the donation process through one Car, One Difference or its online tool, Auto-Donation.com.
Charities that contract with the IAA's donations division, including the American Scouts and the American Red Cross, usually see about 72 percent of the total proceeds from selling the car, which is as good as it gets.
2. Charity Motors
Charity Motors is a highly efficient charity that accepts car donations, which transfers and sells them to individuals in need for 50 per cent of fair market value, and donates a high percentage of the proceeds to the charity of your choice.
If you're looking for the highest tax credit, donate your car to Charity Motors for a discount that is worth the fair market value of the car, regardless of the sale price, because it sells cars at a discount to people in need. If the car is sold at auction with a portion of the proceeds going to charity, you can only take a discount equal to the actual sale price of the car.
3. Car Donation Processor
The Auto Donation Processor is the car donation tool provided by the commercial fundraising organization Advanced Remarketing Services, which constantly passes more than 80 percent of the proceeds to its contracting charities, including Habitat for Humanity. Advanced remarketing services are nationally licensed and highly reputable.
4. Donate to the bow vehicle
The Arc is a non-profit organization that defends and serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. To deal with the car donation process, this highly efficient charity contracts with another highly efficient charity, Melwood, whose car donation charity center employs people with mental and developmental disabilities. You can support two cases in one car by donating to The Arc through Melwood!
5. Donations from all government vehicles
Allstate Car Donations does not belong to the insurance company of the same name. Instead, this organization is the fundraising arm of the Living and Learning Center, based in Van Nuys, California, which provides paid apprenticeships to restore addicts, ex-offenders and vulnerable populations. Trainees process car donations, which pay their salaries and fund other center programs that teach work ethics, appropriate workplace behaviors, and effective communication skills.
6. Ritway Charitable Services
Another reputable business fundraising organization, Riteway Charity Services typically passes between 75 and 100 percent of the net proceeds from car donations to its contracting charities, which include Children's Hospital Los Angeles, a highly efficient and globally renowned nonprofit hospital.
However, some charities get much less, depending on the value of the vehicles, although in most cases they are above 60 per cent. However, it is good to check back on the charity of your choice to ensure that they receive a high return before settling on the donation through Riteway Charity Services.
7. V-DAC (vehicle donations to any charity)
V-DAC is a commercial fundraising organization that always transfers between 70 and 75 per cent of net proceeds from donated vehicles to their charities. Unlike most commercial and charitable brokers, V-DAC provides consumers and charities with their fee schedule to help remove guesswork from determining how much the charity will receive, based on the sale price of the car.
V-DAC, with the help of advanced remarketing services, is the driving force behind Car Talk's vehicle donation program, which received five stars in my recent review.
Working with legitimate car donation programs
The list presented above is just our recommendations. If you've done a little research, there are more than 965,000 car donation programs in the United States today.
With these figures, federal and local government agencies will find it difficult to verify the legitimacy of all these organizations. So if you want to think about other options, make sure you don't get caught up in a scam.To make sure you work with a legitimate organization when donating a car, it's always best to visit the IRS website. They have a list of all 501 (c) (3) charities registered with the IRS.
However, if your charity is not on the list, you can also check with your state's attorney's office if the charity is legitimate. Try as much as possible to avoid working with a broker, especially those who have no direct association with the charity you support. This is because most brokers take much more than the actual money that can go to your charity after selling your car, so you may end up not.