The Cars 4 Causes Blog. Car Donation Program Nationwide.

As we gather for our families’ Thanksgiving dinners this week, we can’t help but think about those who are living in the streets of our own cities and towns. How can we help? Many caring people donate time at shelters, donate food, and volunteer to deliver food to homes or serve Thanksgiving dinner at shelters.

Car donations can help families in need, too. By choosing the charity that benefits from your car donation, you can directly help those in need in your community. Here at Cars 4 Causes®, we’re warmed at this time of year by the donations that we see being made in support of help for those in need of the basic necessities – food, clothing and shelter. We have many such charities on our current list of charities, and — if you don’t see the one you want your car donation to benefit — we are happy to add new charities. In fact, we do. Every day.

Here are just three of the many generous organizations that provide food and shelter.

The Central Downtown Food Basket in Sacramento, Calif., feeds seniors and low-income residents of the community all year long. They serve nearly 700 seniors and 1,500 families every month and do their best to provide healthful food. The group also provides warm clothing and hygiene product to those who need them.

The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County helps provide food to those in need by working through a network of hunger-relief charities and community resources in the county. The Foodbank works to eliminate hunger on the local level by providing food and education through collaboration with others.

The McHenry House provides shelter to homeless families in transition to self-sufficiency in Tracy, Calif., and the surrounding area. In addition to temporary housing, the McHenry House provides counseling, guidance, employment referrals, financial planning assistance, medical care and addiction treatment and educational assistance for the children.

There are many ways to donate our time, money and resources. Donating a car is just one. But we’re happy to say that it can be a valuable one that provides funds to the organizations that help those most in need – not just during the holiday season, but all year long.

Happy Thanksgiving. And thank you for giving!

Tags: Car Donation, car donations, Cars 4 Causes®, charity, choosing a vehicle donation program, donating a car, vehicle donation

Donating a car is a big step for most car donors, especially if you have not donated any vehicle previously. So, we do our best to answer lots of questions right here on our Website and to give you lots of information about Cars 4 Causes®, The Charity That Gives To Charities (R).

Regardless of how much we can tell you on a website, though, we know that often you’ll feel better informed if you can talk to someone who knows the vehicle donation process and who can guide you through it.

We have a knowledgeable staff on hand for just that purpose. You can call them at 800-766-2273 with your questions.  You can also initiate the process via our website, and then we’ll have someone call you to complete the process.

Overview of the Car Donation Process

Step One:  Submit a Vehicle Donation Form
Submit a vehicle donation form via our Website or contact us at 800-766-CARE (2273). At this point, you provide general information on the vehicle you wish to donate and select the charity organization you wish to benefit. (We accept most intact vehicles, whether they are running or not. No smog certificate is required.)

Step Two: Schedule a no-cost to the donor pick-up
Once you donate your car and it is accepted, one of our tow companies will pick up the vehicle at no cost to you (the donor), or you may drop off the vehicle at one of our car donation center lot locations.

Step Three: Cars 4 Causes® Sells your donated vehicle
The donated vehicle will be sold once we have a clear transferable title. A written acknowledgment will then be sent to you (the donor) for your contribution. You’ll keep this paperwork for your taxes. You’ll find more information on tax write-offs on our FAQ page.

Your Donation Makes a Difference

Whether your car donation is an old clunker or a newer vehicle, a boat, RV or other vehicle, donating it to charity helps those in need. So, please browse our website and get to know us, see our FAQs for answers to common questions, and call us at 800-766-2273.  We’re here to answer your questions.

Tags: Car Donation, car donations, Cars 4 Causes®, choosing a vehicle donation program, donated cars, donating a car, Tax deduction, Tax writeoff

Fundraising for education is dear to the heart of Cars 4 Causes®. As most of our car donators, friends and fans now know, our first efforts were all about raising funds for schools. Our story began in the classroom and then branched out into so many worthwhile directions that we became known as “The Charity That Gives To Charities(R).”

We have been amazed by the many charities that serve people and causes around the world and proud to be partnered with so many of them. There are many that provide help to schools and fill other educational needs. You’ll find several on our webpage listing of charities.  We think they’re all terrific, and here are a few examples:

Donating Cars to Education

The Youth Science Center helps kids explore and learn to love science and math, with exhibits, interactive learning programs, and hands-on learning experiences. The Center offers math, science and technology classes for students grades K-8, all with the goal of improving math and science education.

What’s In Your Lunch Box is a collaboration of doctors, professionals, interns and students who provide support to families living with autism. The organization hosts interactive education and training workshops on diet and nutrition, adaptive physical exercise and advocacy, all designed to help families manage and overcome the unique challenges and barriers of feeding children on the Autism Spectrum.

Harley School is a Rochester, New York, independent private school for children from the nursery through Grade 12. Harley School focuses on nurturing the unique strengths of each student, while striving to foster a love of learning, creative imagination and a desire for intellectual achievement.

These are three very different charities with one thing in common that touches every parent’s heart: they all exist to help our children. So do the many other educational institutions and organizations listed in our list of charities. Take a look, and see the many ways a car donation can make a difference in a child’s life.

Tags: Car Donation, car donations, charity, choosing a vehicle donation program, donating a car, Education

The expression – think global, act local – comes to mind when we ponder some of the ways that car donations help charities. And that’s because many of our charity partners are international organizations. So, when car donors to Cars 4 Causes® choose the charities they want to benefit from their donations, many decide on charities with a global focus.

Some of the organizations are well known, such as the American Red Cross and the United Way of Ventura County and of Los Angeles. You’ll also find Doctors Without Borders on our list of approved charities. (See our Supported Charities page for links to these and others.)

A car donation here can help people in India

Some of the other international charity organizations are less well-known. For example, you may not have heard of the India Rural Development Fund, a California–based organization that works in partnership with other like-minded non-profits to enhance the lives of underprivileged people living in rural India. You can donate a car to Cars 4 Causes® and designate the donation to benefit this rural Indian fund.

Your car donation can help build micro-business in Africa

Or, you might want to point your vehicle donation toward Africa. Another organization, the Bridge for Africa, promotes self-sufficiency and the dignity of work in rural Africa. This organization partners with African artisans to design, create and market handmade items. Proceeds from the sales of these goods go towards community development, job creation, training, and toward paying the artisans living wages.

Car donations can help children in need around the world

Another organization, the Firelight Foundation, supports and advocates for the needs and rights of children in Sub-Saharan Africa who are orphaned or affected by HIV. The foundation does this by increasing resources to grassroots care organizations in the communities.

It’s amazing to us to think that the simple act of donating a car here in America can profoundly affect the lives of struggling people on the other side of the globe, but it can. We’re humbled to know that we can be part of making this happen.

Cars 4 Causes® carries the tagline, The Charity That Gives To Charities ® because it describes so well what we do. We have more than 13,400 charities for you to choose from when you donate your vehicle to Cars 4 Causes®. (If you don’t see the charity you want to support with your car donation, call us; we’re only able to fit a partial list on our website, and we are always happy to consider new charities.)

Tags: Car Donation, car donations, Cars 4 Causes®, choosing a vehicle donation program, vehicle donation

We’re sometimes absolutely amazed at the variety of charities that benefit from car donations to Cars 4 Causes®. They cover almost all categories of philanthropy, and they stretch from coast to coast and internationally as well.

The program is quite straightforward: Charities designate Cars 4 Causes® as their vehicle donation charity through our Cars 4 Causes® Charity Partners Program. Then, our donation team works with them, taking care of their vehicle donations.

Connecticut and Virginia

A Cars 4 Causes(R) Charity Partner, Everybody WINS Connecticut

One of the recent additions to Cars 4 Causes® Charity Partners is Connecticut-based Everybody WINS Connecticut – a reading tutor and leadership program for youngsters. One of the creative things this charity does is pair middle school children with younger ones, to serve as ‘reading role models’.

In Lorton, Virginia, the Methuselah Foundation is dedicated to extending healthy human life, working for strategies that promote long-term health and to finding cures to age-related diseases.

From Georgia to California

In Atlanta, Georgia, our Charity Partner, the Ahimsa House, helps victims of

Ahimsa House, in Atlanta, Georgia, is a Cars 4 Causes (R) Charity Partner

domestic violence by providing care for their pets ; in Austin, Texas, My Healing Place helps people through grief and loss; and the Reno, Nevada-based Koinonia Family Services helps find foster and adoptive homes for children. In Los Angeles, Calif., A New Way of Life Reentry Project provides reentry support and sober living housing to previously incarcerated women and their children.

Coast to coast and beyond, charities are benefiting from donations to Cars 4 Causes®, the Charity that Gives to Charities®.We encourage you to visit our list of over 13,400 charities that benefit from donations to Cars 4 Causes®. We think you’ll be as amazed at the variety of helpful philanthropies as we are.

And come back frequently. More charities are joining the list every week.

Tags: Add new tag, Car Donation, car donations, Cars 4 Causes®, choosing a vehicle donation program, vehicle donation