Charity Car Donation Tax Deduction - Watch Out! Know This Before You Donate Your Car To Charity!

In the past few years many charities have found they can raise money through car donation programs and provide you with a car donation tax deduction. These programs can be a goldmine and the charity can make a lot of money for its charitable activities. They stand to make a lot more money if they do all the management themselves. However they must manage it correctly.

Many charities prefer to hire companies that specialize in handling car donations. They charge fairly high fees however. In some cases the charity may only earn 60 cents on the dollar or less, for example.

Most people have no idea that the charity actually ends up with a lot less money than they think. The donor may never find out exactly what this figure is.

If you're thinking about donating a car, truck, RV, boat, or any other vehicle to get a good tax deduction, you'll want to check the charity out thoroughly first. Call them up and ask if they handle their own program or if it's farmed out to one of the many charitable car donation programs. You may have a specific charity in mind.

This doesn't mean you shouldn't go ahead if they don't handle it themselves but just know they won't end up with all the money either. Many charities are not in a position to do the management and all that's entailed in handling the vehicles.

Don't be afraid to ask the charity a lot of questions. You want to be certain you know how much the charity will receive and what they plan to use it for. Sometimes charities sell the vehicle and don't actually get a lot of money for the vehicle. Sometimes it's given to a needy person. Sometimes it's used to transport charity goods to and from various locations. Find this out if this is important to you.

There are many well-known charities that are looking for charitable car donations. You want to ask these charities these same questions also. These charities include Target, Purple Heart, Kidney Foundation and Goodwill Industries for example. There are many others. Many charities have their own used car lots and have salesmen selling the donated vehicles.

If you donate using one of the charity car donation programs instead of working with the charity, you need to know they handle the donated cars, trucks and other vehicles for several or many charities not just one.

Make sure you proceed carefully if you decide to donate your car or other vehicle. It's a good way to support a charity, or your favorite charity if they have a program, and provide you with a great car donation tax deduction. Just make sure you know that the donation may not end up bringing in the amount of money you might think, if it's sold.