Hundreds of charities have begun to adopt purple heart car donation program as a way to raise funds or to provide themselves with no-cost vehicles to help operate their programs. But rather than managing the car donation programs themselves, they will often turn to fundraising organizations to actually handle the donation and auctioning of the vehicles. And that policy can mean a problem for you.

If you run an Internet search on car donation programs, you will get hundreds of hits from fundraisers who claim that they will let you choose from among a group of charities to which the proceeds of your car’s sale, of not the car itself, will go. And they will give you the paperwork you need to claim your car donation as a charitable deduction on your IRS return.

Taking Advice From The IRS

Charities which accept automobile donations
But the IRS itself, in recent years, has become alarmed at the proliferation of car donation programs run by fundraisers which end up keeping the bulk of the proceeds they receive for donated cars. The IRS recommends that it you are considering any of the car donation programs, you contact the people running it and get a clear answer as to whether they are charity officials, or private group acting for the charity.

If you find that they are a private group running the car donation programs of several charities, find out exactly what they plan to do with the car you donate. Will the car be repaired and given to the charity to help in its work? Or do the fundraisers intend to auction the car off and if so, how much of the proceeds will go to the fundraisers, and how much to the charity?

Car donation programs which cannot, or will not, give you clear answers to these questions are not those on which you can depend to see that your ca, or the money it brings gets, to the charity of your choosing. And if the charity does not directly receive the car or its value, you do not have the right to claim the value of the car as a deduction.

Legitimate car donation programs greatly simplify the process of connecting you with a charity which will benefit from your gift. But it’s your responsibility to research the various car donation programs in you area and ensure that as much a possible of your car’s value will be channeled to the charity, and that the charity itself is one recognized by the IRS. Otherwise, your well-intended car donation may turn into a big problem at tax time, when you attempt to take an unwarranted deduction!

Donate Cars For Missionaries
By now, the majority of major charities have some sort of car donation program. They either have people on staff who handle such donations.

Car Donate Charity  Virginia
Two deserving charities which accept cars for donation are The Salvation Army and Military Order of the Purple Heart Service Foundation (known simply as Purple.

List Of Organizations To Donate A Car
If you are interested, you can see lots of different offers by the companies involved in car donation programs. They can easily be contacted online or by phone. These companies have their own websites.

Save Lives Through Car Donation
If you want to help people and at the same time benefit from a simple act, the choice would be to give your car to car donation programs. It s great. S that the moral life and savings. So what are you waiting for?

Determine the Value of Your Charitable Car Donation
Begun several decades ago by the Goodwill Corporation to train their employees and recycle unwanted vehicles, car donation programs were designed to be offered by NPOs alone to serve a direct and needy market.