The Cars 4 Causes Blog.

The federal government’s recently announced new car sales tax deduction is terrific news if you’re planning to donate car to charity this year. With this program, you may qualify for two tax deductions – that’s right, two: one for the car you are donating, and one for the new car you purchase.

Much of the media talk around the subject of new car tax deductions has been focused on the Car Allowance Rebate System (the so-called “Cash for Clunkers” program). But, while this program may benefit some new car buyers with a trade-in vehicle, it does not pencil out for everyone.

Tax Deduction for New Car Purchase

For many, especially if you have a charity you support, the real value may be in the New Car Tax Deduction amendment to the Economic Stimulus Package. With this program, you can be eligible for a tax credit (a tax deduction against taxable income) equal to the sales and excise tax on your purchase of a qualifying new vehicle. (Click here to see the rules of this program.)

Tax Deduction for Car Donation

You still take your tax deduction for your car donation, too!

And, as the rules stand, your tax deduction on your donated vehicle equals the gross selling price. (Click here to see the federal brochure on car donations.) There are lots of reasons that donating your car may be the best option for you. For example, your vehicle may be worth more than the clunker payoff would allow; you or your car may not qualify for the clunker program; your tax situation may benefit more from a donation (your tax accountant can determine this for you).

Overall, too, there’s the benefit of donating a car to charity and helping your cause while also improving your tax situation this year.

This year’s annual Ventura Education Partnership SummerFest brought an estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people together for a day dedicated to our kids’ education. And we were there.

The day started off with a 5K run/walk, and ended with all of us tired, a little sunburned, and a lot happy at what we accomplished. In case you weren’t there, the VEP SummerFest is a day-long event of fun, music, healthy foods and physical fitness events. This year, there was a climbing wall, hula hoops, a drum circle, great music, a booth dedicated to birds and another to reptiles. (Just from that, you can see how much fun this was for kids!)

Cars 4 Causes gave away tote bags and flyers and got the word out about Save Our Schools, a section of Cars 4 Causes, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, we created to make it easy to donate a car and dedicate the proceeds to the California school of your choice  — our effort to help get arts and music back into the schools.

Cars 4 Causes Ventura Education Partnership SummerFest booth got the word out on the Save Our Schools program.

Our Surprise Speaker

We had a wonderful spokesperson on our SummerFest team, someone who experiences the lack of music and art classes first-hand and is not too shy to talk about it: nine-year-old Becky (see her sitting in the photo here, taken at an uncharacteristically quiet moment).

Becky thrilled us with her enthusiasm, surprised those who stopped at the booth with her articulation of the issue, and humbled us all with her dedication. She was non-stop, and she made a difference.

We’re doing everything we can to live up to Becky’s expectations. We’ve made it easy to donate to Ventura County schools through Save Our Schools, and we’re spreading the word. Our message: Donate a car so your children can experience what you had as a child, music and art in the classroom.

Tom Fick, a former naval lieutenant and a longtime member of the Television Academy’s nonfiction peer group, put 2 and 2 together and came up with 120,000. That’s 120,000 DVDs sent each year to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and to wounded members of the armed forces rehabilitating in military hospitals.

Tom Fick, Project Hollywood Cares, with the donated car he received through Cars 4 Causes

We were amazed. He certainly proved to us what a difference an individual can make. His original brainstorm was to collect the “for your consideration” movies sent to members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for Emmy Award viewing and to forward them to our armed forces.

Building a New Organization

Fick started Project: Hollywood Cares out of his garage, spending the first several months acquiring the permissions needed to re-distribute DVDs intended for screenings only. He was successful, with Hollywood pros at all levels responding and helping him further the cause.  Since then, the motion picture and music industries have joined Project: Hollywood Cares, too. And thousands of military personnel have been able to sit back and enjoy a bit of home while far away from home. (Click here to read a news story about troops receiving Project: Hollywood Cares packages.)

Project: Hollywood Cares is an all-volunteer organization, and it is constantly on the road picking up donations, shipping them, visiting hospitals, and sometimes presenting video libraries to stateside military bases, Navy ships and military hospitals.

The young organization, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation, came to Cars 4 Causes seeking any help we could provide. A car “would be of invaluable assistance,” Fick said. In the current economic downturn, though his group is overwhelmingly successful in procuring donated items, fund-raising is tight, and they desperately needed transportation. We were pleased to be able to help with a donated car, a Honda Accord, to help keep those morale-boosting movies going to the troops. Learn how to donate car today!

When the State of California recently cut $11.6 billion out of the public education budget, the losers were our young students. Art, music, physical education – all the “extras” — face a high probability of getting cut. What a loss this is!

What can a parent to do to help? We’ve identified a few ways:

• Volunteer for your child’s classroom
• Volunteer for your school PTA
• Donate money to your child’s school

• And we’re adding another: Donate car to your California school of choice.

Donating Cars to Schools of Your Choice

We’ve set up a Save Our Schools section of Cars 4 Causes, a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization, to make it easy for you to donate a car and dedicate the proceeds to the California school of your choice. You’ll receive the same tax benefits as with any car donation, and you’ll be helping your child’s school.

Why We Care

The problem with cutting the arts and physical education programs, as we see it, is

Children learn teamwork and discover new horizons in their arts programs.

that these programs enrich the lives of our children. Gym classes teach team skills (a great predictor of success in corporate life!), and art and music programs broaden our children’s views of life’s possibilities. Who knows what talents our kids will discover within themselves, given the opportunity?

We care about kids and education; in fact, our concerns about education were the reason we originally launched Cars 4 Causes. Now, Cars 4 Causes is the most highly respected  car donation program in the nation, and we think we can lend a hand to help our schools through tough times.

Check out our Save Our Schools section on the Cars 4 Causes Website. Our kids need our help.

This year’s Annual Cars 4 Causes Kids Art Contest (our 3rd) warmed our hearts and opened our minds again. Take a look at these thoughtful posters. The children were asked to draw a picture of Your Favorite Way to Help Others.

1st through 3rd grade winners of Cars 4 Causes Kids Art Contest

Notice one thing they all have in common? We think there’s something there, and we’re calling it: helping in any way you can. First-grader Maria helps by giving toys and food to others and by visiting friends in the hospital. Third-grader Ketsie helped with a car wash; that was her favorite.

Each poster tells a story, and we’ll let you enjoy ‘reading’ the children’s stories and messages in their art. They’re all here.

4th and 5th grade winners of Cars 4 Causes Kids Art Contest

At Cars 4 Causes, we rediscover every day that charity and the desire to help others is an all-embracing human quality. We see it in the children’s art, and we see it in adults who donate cars to charity.

While it’s true that we adults get a tax deduction with our car donation, we also help the charity of our choice, and that’s the real driving force behind the desire to donate a vehicle – helping others. I guess we know that; the kids just remind us when we give them a chance.

The Prizes

Each of the children who won at their grade level received an art kit; their school received $1,000; and that student’s class was able to designate $1,000 to any non-profit organization of their choice. [You can see more on eligibility and participation in the Annual Cars 4 Causes Kids Art Contest in our May blog.]