Car donation center

Why use a car donation center for donating a car?

This is the question asked by many a prospective car donor. The car donation centers are the intermediaries between donors and the charities who receive the sale proceeds of the donated cars. They complete all the paper work formalities, transporting the car from the donor's place to their yard, finding the buyers for the car and the associated work.

However, a donor must be very careful while choosing a car donation center for his or her donation to reach the needy people. The donor should check the credentials of the car donation center in detail. The details such as the number of years the center has been in operation, their registration data, the charities that have been serviced by them over the years, their tax details and references from earlier donors etc.

Also the donors must check if the charity being serviced by the center is registered under the section 501 (c) (3) of IRS publication 78 which lists all the organizations permitted to collect donations. One should also confirm what portion of the sale proceeds go to the charities and how much is retained by the car donation center. In many scams it has been found that a very little percentage of the sale value goes to the charity and majority of it is retained by the car donation center.

The charities also benefit from the services of the car donation centers. Many of the charities are so small that any additional expenditure for transportation, storing, auctioning of the vehicles would be too much for them. In such cases when a car donation center handles all this work, the financial pressure on the charity is reduced and they can focus more on their own charity work rather than spend both time and money on the sale of donated cars.

Hence many charities opt to utilize the services of car donation centers. On their part the donors can relax with the knowledge that their donation is reaching the right charity and the intended beneficiaries are being helped. In this internet age, a donor need not even leave his home to donate his car. All the formalities are completed online and the car donation centers pick up the car from the donor's car, complete the whole process of auctioning, transferring the titles, forwarding the proceeds to the owner and the charities. All this without the owner leaving his house even once!

A note of caution for the donors: There have been some instances of car donation centers indulging in malpractices. The sale amounts have not been passed on properly to the charities or the realized value not reported to the donor properly, resulting in loss to the donors in claiming their tax deductions.

All said and done, the car donation centers are here to stay. The advantages offered by them are clear and the donors as well as the charities save a lot of time, money and effort when they process the sale of the donated cars through the centers. Hence, we could safely say that the car donation centers are here to stay and make life easier for all concerned - especially those needing help from the charities.