Which Charity Has the Best Car Donation Program?…
It seems like every charity on the planet is asking for car donations. But car donation programs are not created equally. Many programs are operated by 3rd party for-profit companies and very little of the value of the vehicle actually goes for a worthy charitable cause. In this short article we’d like to share with you 4 reasons why you may want to consider donating your car to Righteous Rides and why we think it is the best car donation program.
Five Reasons
- Maximum Charity
- Biggest Deduction
- Total Transparency
- Greatest Simplicity
Let’s talk a little bit about each one of these.
Maximum Charity
When you’re looking to donate your car, you should ask a few questions of the charity itself. Questions like, who manages your program? Or, how is the car sold once it is donated? Chances are that the charity will tell you that they have an agency that handles it. And, that the car is picked up by a (for-profit) tow company and taken to a (for-profit) auction, and then auctioned to a (for-profit) used car dealer who sells it to make money. The vast majority of the value in the donation is captured by for profit operations. The original charity ends up seeing very little.
Things are very different at Righteous Rides. A volunteer will pick up your car with our (non-profit charity) truck. They will bring it to our (non-profit charity) shop. It will be worked on by our (non-profit charity) staff and volunteers, and then sold on our (non-profit charity) used car lot. Every step of the process is done by us and we are a 501c3 charity. Non of the proceeds from the donation end up in the hands of a for-profit company. This is one reason we believe that our’s is the best car donation approach.
Biggest Deduction
The IRS allows you to deduct up to $500 for a car donation without a receipt. But, if your car is sold for more than that by the charity or the 3rd party for-profit agent, you can deduct the amount the car was sold for. So lets go back to the typical charity car donation program. Once the tow company takes the car to the auction, it is sold “as is”. This will likely be the lowest possible price anyone would pay for this car. So your deduction will be for that lowest possible price.
Well, the IRS also allows the charity to make modest repairs and maintenance prior to selling. At Righteous Rides, we are a transportation ministry. And, if your car is repairable, we will fix it up. We will then clean it and sell it on our used car lot for closer to retail prices (typical much higher that auction prices for a broken dirty car). So, at Righteous Rides, the likelihood is that your tax deduction will be much higher than at any other typical charity.
Total Transparency
A common complaint among many car donors is that they never know what happened to their car donation. Months after the donation, the charity will send them a note saying they received $150 as a result of your donation. The typical response is “Hey! That car was worth way more that that”. That is just the way it typically works.
Well, again at Righteous Rides it is much different. We operate our non-profit used car lot right off Highway 70 west of St. Louis Mo. Come by any time and see your car as it goes through the repair process. You can see everything we have done to make it more useable and marketable. Finally, monitor it on-line at our web site when it goes for sale. Ultimately, you will get a letter telling you what it sold for… and typically this is a much happier letter than the one from the other guys.
Greatest Simplicity
Everyone tries to make their car donation program simple and hassle free. Righteous Rides is no different. You have our guarantee that we will do everything we can to make this as simple possible. Just fill in our on-line form or give us a call at 636-456-4506 and will send you an easy to follow instruction sheet to start the process.
Many people that are donating a car are also in the market to buy another. Donating your car can make buying your next one much simpler. When you go to the dealer without a trade in, you typically get the bottom price. If you have a trade, all the math of how much you are getting for the trade and what discounts and rebates are applied can be very confusing. If you get a great tax deduction for your donation, then many time there is a greater bottom line financial gain for you by donating your car. Of course, all of that depends a little on your tax bracket and how much the dealer is willing to give you on a trade. But we’d love to show you the advantages
These are the reasons that we think Righteous Rides is the best car donation place in St Louis… and in the country, for that matter. We pick up car donations around the country to help support world missions.
Start your donation HERE or call 636-456-4506
What is the best car donation place? We thin it is Righteous Rides!