Donating a Car

Donation Advantages

• Donating your vehicle emancipates you from the hassle of selling, freeing you from advertising and getting badgered with phone calls at all times of the day and even night.

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

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

• Most donations are tax deductible.

• No haggling for a fair trade-in value with quick-talking car salesmen.

• No haggling with a potential buyer.

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

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

Donating Disadvantages

Charity fraud is the main wince. Due to limited state and federal oversight, con artists have stained the integrity of the car donation program under the camouflage of false charities. The repercussions don't reach you until tax time, when you coldly discover your expected tax deduction has been rejected.

How to Protect Yourself Against Fraud

• Do some research to protect yourself. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Publication 78 serves as a superb source for determining a charity's legitimacy and tax exemption status. The IRS also offers A Donor's Guide to Car Donation, which tells you the tax write-off requirements.

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

Some Washington Car Donation Charities

• ABC Children's Charity

• American Red Cross

• Car Angel

• Child Haven

• Cielo Project

• Cocoon House

• Network for Good

• Northwest Parkinson's Foundation

• Peace for the Streets

• Senior Services

• Support America's Armed Forces

• The Humane Society

• Tukwila Children's Foundation

• Wing Luke Asian Museum