Helpful Link of the Week #8

This week's link is from Wikihow, and deals with donating your car to the Salvation Army, a worthy and noble cause that is worth it if you're looking for how to get rid of that old car sitting in your driveway.

Wikihow - How to Donate your Car to the Salvation Army

10 Tips on Donating Your Vehicle to Charity

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. 

3. Check the math. If you still feel compelled to use an intermediary organization – possibly because you’re busy – at least ask the organization how much of the car or boat’s value will go to charity. If the organization simply gives charities flat fees — say, $100 for a used vehicle regardless of its value, or $2,000 a month — your donation may not be eligible for a tax deduction.

4. Know the status of your recipient. In order for you to qualify for a deduction, the charity that gets your donation must be an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) organization. Your church, synagogue, mosque or temple likely qualifies. (Check first just to make sure.) You also can visit the Internal Revenue Service’s Web site and search for Publication 78 to find other qualifying non-profit organizations. (Just type “78” into the search field on the IRS home page and you’ll be directed to the right publication.)

5. Do the delivery yourself. Once you’ve identified a worthy charity, recognize that it will have to pay someone to pick up your car or boat for you. To help the charity maximize the benefit of your donation, drop the car or boat off yourself.

6. Transfer the vehicle with care. Want to eliminate all risk of running up parking tickets and other violations after you’ve said goodbye to your donated vehicle? Then formally re-title the vehicle to the charity, and report the transfer to your state’s department of motor vehicles or licensing. Never agree to leave the ownership space on the charity donation papers blank.

7. Your estimate of the donation’s value probably won’t cut it. If your car or boat is worth more than $500, the IRS is going to want to see evidence of how much the charity got for it. (Most charities that accept these donations turn around and sell them for cash.) You’ll need to get a receipt from the charity revealing exactly how much money it made.

8. Know when you can report the fair market value. You won’t need evidence of the sales price if the charity keeps the vehicle or vessel and uses it in its charitable work, or if your donation is worth less than $500. Then you can report its fair market value based on listings from Kelley Blue Book and similar sources.

9. Keep a thorough paper trail. If your donation is worth more than $500, you’ll have to attach IRS Form 8283 to your tax return. If it’s worth more than $5,000, your documentation must include an outside appraisal. You’ll also need proof of the donation, such as a receipt from the charity and a copy of the title change.

10. Be detail-oriented. This paper trail may seem cumbersome, but think about it: This may be one of the biggest charitable donations you ever make. By taking the time to dot the i’s, you can make sure that the charity gets the most benefit and you get the biggest possible deduction.

Helpful Link of the Week #7

This week's link comes from an indispensable source: Lifetips! It covers almost everything about car donation, so go pay Lifetips a visit!

Lifetips - Car Donation

Helpful Link of the Week #6

This week's link is probably the first thing you'd think of when trying to find information about car donation, Wikipedia. Nonetheless, Wikipedia has valuable information that can be extremely useful, so read up!

Wikipedia - Car Donation

Helpful Link(s) of the Week #5

This week's helpful links are all about appraising the value of the car you want to donate. SO without further ado, here are the links:

Kelley Blue Book

The NADA Guides

Edmunds Guide

Should You Sell or Donate Your Car?

A common dilemma that our donors face is the decision to sell or to donate their car car. In this article we will consider both ideas.

There are a lot of reasons to consider donation. Many are looking for a way to use their vehicle to support their favorite cause, and we are here to help with that. Children go away to college, and elders stop driving. Car owners upgrade to new vehicles, which means they have no more use for the old car, even though it may still be in perfectly serviceable condition. When dealing with an extra car that still holds some value, there are options to consider with sale or a car donation.

We recognize the fact that your family car is a huge initial investment, and as time passes, repairs and maintenance costs continue to increase that investment. As the vehicle ages and depreciates in value, the chances of a need for mechanical repairs increase exponentially. Many vehicle owners come to that “last straw” breaking point when one more thing (even a minor repair) will push them to decide that they just don’t want to invest anymore.

For some, the family car becomes an emotional attachment, sort of like a family pet. We hear from donors constantly how, “Junior learned to drive in this car.”; or, “Mom drove all the kids to soccer in the minivan.” It is difficult for them to think of anyone but them driving their Baby. They want to know it will be used in a meaningful way, and hope that someone can get some use out of it. This happens when the car can be reconditioned and put back on the road.

We understand what an important decision this is and offer you some thoughts to consider. While the best of all scenarios is for the car owner to sell their car privately and donate the entire amount to charity; this is not always practical. Cars often need mechanical work, and laws in some states require a valid Smog Certificate to be provided by the seller. This is not an option for those car owners who have decided not to invest anymore time or money into the vehicle.

Donors are often under time constraints to get their vehicles moved due to space considerations, and registration deadlines. Some dislike having strangers come to their home, or having to take test drives with them. Others state the inconvenience of scheduling for prospective buyers and the worry of haggling over price as reasons why they will not attempt a sale. Often they are not offered what they feel is the value of the vehicle as a trade-in (especially on older cars). Also, what can you do if the buyer is unhappy with the car and brings it back? You may be obligated to pay for repairs to bring the car into compliance for smog certification; or, in the worst case take the car back and refund the buyer their money.

Whether you own a car, truck, boat or recreational vehicle, you must decide for yourself;