The Cars 4 Causes Blog.

Can your Car Donation Really Save you Money???

So here you are at the end of the year and you’re doing everything you can to defer your income and accelerate your expenses. You want to leave no stone unturned when it comes to potential tax deductions. That’s why its 10pm on a Friday night just 1 day before the end of the year and you’re in your garage wondering if donating your old car would be a good idea.

You’ve seen the ads on TV, you’ve heard the radio jingles, and you’ve even seen the billboards close to your office; “Donate your Cars to Charity; Get a Tax Deduction this Year!” But, is it really worth it? Can you really save money on your taxes by donating your car?  And who do you donate it to?  How do you choose, there are so many ads?  If buying your car was such a horrible experience, how can you trust someone to take it from you for free?

Well, these are all good questions and, unfortunately, I don’t have any answers for you. This is one you’ll have to figure out on your own. But I can offer a few suggestions to help you with your decision.

A.  A Car Donation to a qualified charity is deductible under the IRS Code and could result in significant tax savings for you depending on the value of the car donation and your own tax situation. Please refer to the IRS website regarding car donations and always consult your tax professional. I’m sure he will appreciate your call at 10pm the night before New Year’s Eve.

B.  The car donation business is a sorted group of players, very few of which you would want to invite into your home for dinner and fewer still that you would want to invite to your little private garage party the day before New Years Eve. Don’t get me wrong, we’re all good people, but when we are competing with hundreds of others all standing on the corner with a cup in our hand waiting for some generous soul like you to place a vehicle in that cup so that we don’t starve this winter you get a lot of weird behavior that makes us all seem like a bunch of undesirables. “Hey, over here” yeah you!  Thinking about donating your car? How about a free vacation? Would you like that? No? How about a gas card? You need one of those? I’ll pick up your car for free? I’ll do all the paperwork? Take a look at these pictures of my starving family, my littlest is so hungry, please help!”

Yeah, it’s weird out there, and that makes it difficult for you to trust any of us.  But still, you could realize a substantial tax savings from donating your car and if you can use the deduction, it’s something you should consider. So here’s what you need to do.

1. Donate directly to a charity. There are few charities out there that operate vehicle donation programs, and there are a lot more who engage the services of a commercial fundraiser who operates the vehicle donation program on their behalf.  Seek out the charities that operate their own programs and you have a greater chance that the proceeds from the sale of your donated vehicle actually go to fund a charitable cause and not line the pockets of a private enterprise with a parasitic relationship to the non-profit world.

2. Make sure the charity you choose has the ability to recondition your car and sell it retail.  A retail sale of your donated vehicle can bring the highest price for your donation and that translates into the highest tax deduction value for you. Of course, not every donated vehicle can be or should be reconditioned. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense financially and the charity is better off wholesaling your vehicle to get the highest return. But, if the charity you choose doesn’t have this ability, you could be leaving a lot of tax savings on the table by giving your car to them.  Let’s look at an example:

Here’s a vehicle that was donated to Cars 4 Causes this year. It is a 2001 BMW 540i with 97,000 miles. When we received this vehicle at one of our sales lots, it was found to be in good mechanical conditions, with excellent interior.  The body was intact, but the vehicle had been stored outdoors and the paint and finish had severe scorching and weather damage. Repairs needed were new brake pads, grill trim replacement, passenger rear view window cover replacement and a paint job. Had we sent this vehicle to one of our wholesale lots we would have received $1,500 to $1,800 maximum for the vehicle in its donated condition.

Cars 4 Causes has the expertise and staff to perform minor repairs to its donated vehicles such as those that were needed on this BMW. So, we reconditioned this vehicle and sold it through our on-line retail sales outlet. The sales price received for this vehicle – $6,100. That’s a huge difference and one that you should certainly pay attention to if you’re interested in getting the maximum tax write off for your vehicle donation.

3.  Look for Experience and Longevity. Make sure the organization you donate to has the experience to handle your donation properly, has been around for a long time and isn’t just some fly-by-night organization that just opened its doors and posted a website to prey on year-end donors like you. Cars 4 Causes is America’s 1st vehicle donation charity. We opened our doors in 1997. We’ve handled more than 160,000 donations and raised over $100 million, sharing these proceeds with more than 16,000 charities, schools and religious organizations through the U.S.

4.  Demand Visibility. As you are researching all of the available organizations that will accept your donated vehicle notice how many of their websites don’t provide an office address, a list of the people running the organization, copies of their IRS Form 990’s or a copy of their annual audited financials. Without these items to evaluate the organization you might as well be driving at night with your lights off!  It’s important to know who you are giving your vehicle to and what they are doing with it. Don’t compromise on this point or your could find yourself without a vehicle, without a tax receipt and without any way to find out what happened or find anyone to help you.

If you determine that donating your car is right for you, Cars 4 Causes would be grateful for your vehicle donation. We would do our best to get you the highest tax write-off value and the most money for charity and to make your donation process as convenient and painless as possible. Best of luck with your decision and happy holidays to you and your family.

As far as my husband and I have come in our lives – gotten our educations, own a home, have an adopted son – none of it has come by easily or cheaply.  I paid off my student loans only 10 years ago at the age of 42, and remember times during my struggle to finish college and grad school when I was down to my last couple of pieces of bread and peanut butter, even though I was working two jobs.  But I was too proud to ask my parents for money.  There were several times when I recall an “angel” in the form of a friend had intervened just at the right moment and sent me a check or slipped me a $20 bill, getting me through.

One afternoon, after a play date, we heard that the mom of my son’s best friend had just gotten her car repossessed, and we felt sad and very anxious for her.  A single parent of three young children, she depended on that car to get to her job as an ER nurse, to get her kids to school – essentially to live independently.  No car meant no job, which meant possibly losing her apartment and ending up in a homeless shelter.  We have always known her to be a good mother and responsible person to her commitments and we knew the loss of her car was not from carelessness or overindulgence.

Even though my car was just a couple of years old, my long commutes to Pasadena for my work were taking a toll on my back and I was looking to upgrade to something  with more back support.  I was not in a hurry to do this, wanting to get a little more life out of this current Ford, but it had been crossing my mind.  That evening after dinner, I turned to my husband and said, “Is there any reason at all that we shouldn’t donate my car to charity for to benefit someone like our son’s best friend’s mom?”  His face lit up and had that grin that tells me we were both on the same page.  He said, “Absolutely no reason at all.”   We were referred to a donate car program known as Cars 4 Causes because their Cars 4 Caring program has a reputation of making sure that car donations get into the hands of those most in need.

Sure, we could have sold that car and pocketed the $20K.  But the truth is, we are doing fine.  And given that we are older parents who most likely will not live long enough to be grandparents, we didn’t want to miss the experience of being the ones who could give what it takes to help someone get through. Giving a car to charity that will allow someone like our son’s best friend’s mom  to not have to worry about a car payment for the next 7 years or so, well, that was exactly the kind of “angels” we wanted to be.

Anonymous

TEAM CARS 4 CAUSES^® HELPS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY IN PIRU, CA.

M. Smith

February 1, 2011

Team Cars 4 Causes volunteered to assist Habitat for Humanity in the construction of a custom home in Piru, California this past weekend.  It was a tremendous turn out on a sunny Saturday in southern California.  Honorary Team Cars 4 Causes member, Peter Livingston of Livingston Construction, his son Ian and his lead foreman Rafa, led the way for Team Cars 4 Causes, teaching team members the basics of home construction and providing guidance for those difficult tasks.

Normally, building a house is a daunting task; first you have to buy the land, hire an architect and engineer, draw up the plans to your new home, convince the city to give you permits, find a bank willing to finance your dream home and select a contractor that can see your project through and stay within your budget.   Millions of variables to stay on top of, any one of which can delay your home or blow your budget.

But as we found out here at Cars 4 Causes, a Habitat for Humanity house is different.  Sure the steps are the same, no cheating the system there, but the house is built from an environment of friendly, good-spirited collaboration, and it makes all the difference in the world.  The on-site vibe is fun and energetic.   People volunteer their time to help build these houses and you can feel the affinity volunteers have for their fellow crew members as well as the entire process itself.  There’s tolerance, patience and a helping hand at every turn.  These volunteers aren’t expert tradesmen, so when someone makes a mistake or doesn’t know what to do, everyone helps out to make sure the job gets done and the people doing it feel good about their contribution.

Our job today was to seal, caulk and paint the eaves of the house and install the siding on the home’s exterior.  Six of our team members worked on the siding and the remaining two accepted the task of caulking, sealing and painting the eaves.  Habitat for Humanity Site Manager, John Kestler gave us all instructions on safety and our specific tasks and sent us on our way.  There were a few challenging moments, a lot of questions for Peter, who guided us brilliantly through all the technical matters -  lots of laughs.  We had the privilege to work alongside the new owners who are required to contribute 500 hours of “sweat equity” in their new home.  Having them there really personalized the experience for everyone.

I think it was Rudolf Steiner, speaking of biodynamic farming techniques, who pointed out that energy is an important ingredient that must be considered in the health of what we produce.   Having experienced what goes into a Habitat for Humanity home, I can see that all the fun,  laughs, love and positive energy that went into its construction is as  important a raw material as the concrete and lumber that make up this house.   I know now that this is the Habitat for Humanity difference.

The house we worked on belongs to Richard and Susan Vergana and their two daughters.  The Vergana’s are members of the Maximillian Kolbe Church in Westlake Village who is sponsoring the construction of the house.   Their new home is being built on a site that was once a 40-room hotel.   The site was demolished and construction began in nearly a year ago, in March.   Construction is expected to be completed in June of this year.

Because of the US recession and its impact on the construction industry, Habitat for Humanity has become the 5^th largest construction company in America.   However, their reliance upon construction industry contributions has been severely impacted and volunteers like Team Cars 4 Causes play a much larger role in the construction of a Habitat home than may have in the past.

All of us here at Cars 4 Causes are proud of our contribution to Habitat for Humanity and the Vergana family.   We are excited for the completion of the Piru house this summer and are sure the Vergana family will be happy living in their new home.

Cars 4 Causes – We are more than just a car donation charity. We do our role to hand our support in the community.

We were eager to help Zaira out when we heard her touching story of keeping hope and being triumphant over terrible circumstances.

Zaira endured a painful and abusive childhood before she immigrated to the United States in 1995. Forced to continue living with a neglectful and demeaning parent, she was left feeling discouraged, unsupported and completely alone. She had nearly lost hope by the time she was placed in the foster care system.

It was at this point that Zaira’s life drastically changed for the better. She made her way through grade school, graduated high school, and is now in college, working towards becoming a Registered Nurse.

“I was on my journey to become someone”, she says. ”So far, I am doing excellent….For the past years, I have had many obstacles, but I have never given up and I never will.”

Zaira didn’t just believe in herself, she put in the work, and it has paid off in a big way. One obstacle that Zaira couldn’t overcome alone though was her lack of transportation.  She saved money and bought herself a car, but the cost of continually having to pay for repairs quickly became too cumbersome, and the car eventually ceased to work.

Cars 4 Causes® was happy to help. We provided Zaira with a 2003 Toyota Corolla. It’s our hope that, with the help of her new car, she will be able to continue to thrive in school and in life, and continue to meet her goals and fulfill her dreams. Make a car donation today!

Monday January 18, 2010 was the National Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. We at Cars 4 Causes ® couldn’t let a “day of service” come and go without doing a little something extra for the community.

So after a bit of searching through our database of supported charities, we happened upon Project Linus, a charity that gives new, handmade blankets and afghans made by volunteers to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need.

It was a perfect match. The staff at Cars 4 Causes ® is a creative bunch with a serious knack for arts and crafts. We ended up making six blankets for Project Linus, all of which were not only warm and functional but absolutely adorable.

As The Charity That Gives To Charities®, Cars 4 Causes ® has always embraced the concept of helping others as one of our core values. But it’s not just a job; it’s a way of life.  And we’re not just employees, we’re community members.

Whether you volunteer, give financial support or donate car, you truly can make a positive impact on the lives of those in need. In the spirit of giving, especially in light of recent events, Cars 4 Causes ® encourages everyone to do what they can to make a difference, and help others in their times of hardship. Make a car donation today!