Donating a Car

Advantages

• Donating your vehicle emancipates you from the hassles of selling it. Forget those pesky phone calls at all hours of the day and night.

• No need to spend your time showing the car to strangers and accompanying them on awkward test drives.

• No haggling for a fair trade-in value with quick-talking car salesmen, or cagey potential buyers.

• You don't need to replace your vehicle's pocked windshield or cracked timing belt. Most charities will accept your vehicle, regardless of condition.

• You can choose the charity of your choice, and feel like a true pillar of society.

• Most donations are tax-deductible.

• Most charities provide either free pick-up service or convenient pick-up locations.

Disadvantages

One word: fraud. Due to limited state and federal oversight, con artists have stained the integrity of a win-win process under the camouflage of false charities. The repercussions don't reach you until tax time, when you discover your expected tax deduction has been rejected.

How to Protect Yourself Against Fraud

• Read our how-to guide about the donation process, with tons of tips and warning signs.

• Do some research. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Publication 78 is a superb resource for determining a charity's legitimacy and tax-exempt status.

• Read this pamphlet, also from the IRS, about donating your car. It's full of helpful information about determining a fair-value for your car, and the kinds of written documentation required for proper recordkeeping.

• Check with either Minnesota's Attorney General's Office or Secretary of State's Office for access to a specific charity's financial filings.

A Few Charities

• Habitat for Humanity

• Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

• National Ataxia Foundation

• Helping Paws of Minnesota

• Outreach Center

• Red Cross

• Fraser

• United Way of Olmsted County