Top car donation charities

You could make space in your driveway and lower your tax bill by donating your (old) car to charity. Non-profit organizations can either use your vehicle or sell it and use the proceeds to further their charitable missions. Many accept all types of vehicles in almost any condition.

The trick is donating to an actual charity. Just because an organization is called Healing Heroes Network, doesn’t mean that it’s not a fraud.

To help you avoid scams, give to a real nonprofit and get a legitimate receipt for your taxes, we researched national charities that accept car donations.

The top charities for car donations

American Red Cross 

• Who benefits: People affected by disasters.
• Accepted vehicles: Cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, RVs, snowmobiles, jet skis, tractors, farm equipment, heavy equipment.

What you should know

The American Red Cross accepts all types of car donations from all 50 states. The vehicle can be in almost any condition; it simply must be in one piece, have an engine and be accessible to a tow truck.

As an organization, the Red Cross’ mission is to alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies big and small. For example, it provides shelter, food and water to survivors of natural disasters.

When you donate a vehicle to the American Red Cross, however, you’ll be working directly with Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS), a nonprofit that handles car donations for other charities. Both organizations are rated four out of four stars by Charity Navigator.

CARS is an IRS-recognized nonprofit and it also benefits from the donation. While the Red Cross receives a portion of the proceeds, CARS uses some of the donation’s value for its own mission to provide transportation to people with mobility restrictions, such as older adults and persons with disabilities.

Donation process

The Red Cross says the entire donation process typically takes 30 days from the time you first reach out to when you receive a tax donation receipt.

To get started, you can fill out a form on the website or call 855-927-2227. You’ll need to share your contact details and vehicle information, including your name and phone number, and the vehicle type, condition and location.

When it’s confirmed that the donation can be accepted, you’ll arrange a pickup date with one of the partnered tow truck companies. The pick up is free. And, once the car is sold, the Red Cross sends a tax acknowledgement letter to you.

Canine Companions for Independence

• Who benefits: People in need of service dogs.
• Accepted vehicles: Cars, trucks, boats, planes, motorcycles and more.

What you should know

Service dogs can cost between $15,000 and $50,000 upfront due to their extensive training. Meanwhile, workers with a disability earn roughly 66 cents for every dollar earned by someone without a disability, per the U.S. Census. Canine Companions for Independence provides service dogs to people with physical, cognitive and auditory disabilities, including children and veterans.

Like many other charities, this one depends on Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS) to process donated vehicles. Accepted vehicles include almost anything that has an engine, is in the U.S., is in one piece and can be towed.

CARS is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit and also benefits from your donation.

Donation process

The process can take between four and 12 weeks, depending on the vehicle and its location. Most vehicles can be picked up, for free, within 24 to 72 business hours from the time you reach out to CARS.

You can call 866-398-4483 or fill out this contact form to start. The representative will confirm that your car can be donated and help you set up a pickup time with a partnered towing company. Once the car is sold, the nonprofit receives the funds within five business days and sends you a receipt for tax purposes.

Goodwill

• Who benefits: People looking for employment and career growth.
• Accepted vehicles: Cars, trucks, SUVs, trailers, RVs, golf carts, boats, motorcycles, motorized equipment and more.

What you should know

You may be used to dropping off donations at Goodwill from your vehicle, but you can also donate your whole vehicle.

Goodwill accepts almost any type of vehicle in any condition, including regular passenger vehicles and more exotic ones, such as sailboats, yachts, farm equipment, snowmobiles and non-commercial airplanes. It sends them to auctions and then uses the proceeds to support its programs.

While Goodwill is known for its stores, it also offers free programs in career training, job search support and family stability services, which includes food, rental, utility, transportation and furniture assistance.

Donation process

You can’t hand your keys to a Goodwill cashier, but you can get Goodwill to come pick up your vehicle.

Fill out Goodwill’s online car donation form or call Goodwill Car Donations at 855-534-3830. You’ll need to know the car’s year, make, model and mileage, plus whether it runs and if you’ve got the title available.

If you have any questions about titling or where your car is (or your tax receipt) after you donate, you can call the same number above.

Habitat for Humanity

• Who benefits: People who need affordable and safe homes.
• Accepted vehicles: Cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, RVs, farm and construction equipment.

What you should know

Habitat for Humanity works on several fronts to advance Americans’ ability to afford, acquire and remain in housing. It’s primarily known for building houses for low-income families, but it also completes home repair for older adults, contributes to rebuilding efforts after natural disasters, gives financial education for homeownership, provides home financing for historically underserved communities and advocates politically to improve housing.

The organization also has a religious component — 10% of its revenue goes towards global Christian ministry.

It accepts most vehicles as donations, even construction equipment, and while your car doesn’t have to be running, it must be in one piece and have four inflated tires so it can be moved. If you have an unusual vehicle, double check that Habitat for Humanity can accept it by making a call to the donation center.

Donation process

Contact Habitat for Humanity by either calling 877-277-4344, or starting your donation online. You’ll need to provide your contact information and details about the vehicle, then arrange a free pick up.

The nonprofit works with Advanced Remarketing Services, which handles the vehicle donation process, from picking it up, cleaning it out, retitling it and selling it. Once the vehicle is sold, you’ll receive a tax receipt.

Make-a-Wish Foundation

• Who benefits: Critically ill children.
• Accepted vehicles: Cars, trucks, RVs, vans, boats, jet skis, motorcycles and trailers.

What you should know

The emotional trauma caused by a critical illness can negatively impact survival rates. The Make-A-Wish Foundation fights this by granting wishes of critically ill children, ages three to 18. Examples of wishes granted include being a firefighter for a day, seeing the snow for the first time and meeting a unicorn.

Donation process

Check if your local chapter accepts donations by searching your zip code or state here. For instance, the Mid-Atlantic and the San Diego chapters accept vehicles of all sorts, running or not.

If so, your local chapter will likely partner with Wheels For Wishes (run by the  Car Donation Foundation) or Charitable Auto Resources (CARS), which will be the organization that you work with directly. It will tow, clean, repair and resale the vehicle, with the proceeds benefiting your local Make-A-Wish.

To start, find a chapter near you that accepts car donations, fill out its form with your contact and vehicle details, and arrange a pick up.

Ronald McDonald House Charities

• Who benefits: Families of children receiving hospital care.
• Accepted vehicles: Cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and RVs.

What you should know

Ronald McDonald House Charities is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that’s supported by McDonalds and aims to help families access health care.

It mainly provides free lodging and meals to families that have to travel far from home for their critically ill children to receive care. The charity owns and runs room and board style houses, with each family having one private room and access to public areas, including a kitchen and living room.

The nonprofit also provides family room programs in hospitals and mobile health care programs to underserved communities.

Donation process

You can start the donation by entering your zip code here or calling 855-227-7435. You’ll need to provide your contact information and details about the vehicle, and you’ll set up a time for a free towing pick up.

The majority of the proceeds from your donation will go to Ronald McDonald House Charities, but you’ll be working with Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS), which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit itself and will process your donation. CARS benefits from your gift as well — it provides transportation to older and disabled people.

Vehicles for Veterans 

• Who benefits: Disabled veteran charities.
• Accepted vehicles: Cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, RVs, ATVs and more.

What you should know

Vehicles for Veterans is a campaign run by the Car Donation Foundation (CDF). The donation proceeds are spread out to veteran charity organizations across the country, including the United Service Organization (USO), Homes For Our Troops, K9s For Warriors and the Semper Fi Fund.

CDF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs several car donation programs, including ones benefiting Wheels for Wishes and Animal Car Donation. It accepts most vehicle types, picks them up free of charge to you and takes care of all the paperwork.

Donation process

It typically takes 15 days from the time your car is picked up to when you receive a tax receipt.

You can start by calling 844-812-8838 or filling out an online donation form. If you fill out the form, you can expect a call within 24 hours. Whichever method you choose, you’ll need to provide your contact details and information about the vehicle, and schedule a pickup time that works for you.

Tax benefits for donating your car

Under the U.S. tax code, you can reduce your taxable income if you make donations to charities that are registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) as nonprofits, 501(c)(3) organizations.

For example, if you get a car donation receipt for $5,000 and your taxable income for the year was $50,000, it would lower that amount, so Uncle Sam would only tax you on $45,000.

However, this may not be useful to you. Nearly 90% of filers take the IRS standard deduction; meaning, the government automatically allows you to reduce your taxable income by such a large amount, that individually listing out tax deductions doesn’t help most people.

How do you know if you’ll itemize rather than take the standard deduction?

“Look at the prior year tax return to see what you did,” said Judy Brown, a certified financial planner (CFP) at consulting firm SC&H Group, based in the Baltimore-Washington D.C area. If you typically itemize, you’re likely to continue the trend.

Yet, if things have changed this year — you’re anticipating large medical expenses or you bought a home —  you’re also likely to find itemizing useful.

“Pull up Schedule A on a tax return and look at things that are deductible and compare it to the standard deduction,” Brown said.

How to claim a tax deduction for charities

Firstly, make sure you make a donation to an official charity. You can use the IRS’s tax-exempt organization search tool to find one or confirm a nonprofit’s status.

When you donate the vehicle, get a receipt that the donation was received and make sure you follow up with the charity to get a tax donation receipt once the vehicle has been sold or put into use. This last receipt is vital; without it you likely won’t be able to deduct the car’s value from your taxes.

IRS guidelines for donating your vehicle

You’ll need to get a receipt from the organization stating its name, what you donated and when you donated it. It’s smart to take a photo of the receipt and save it under an appropriate file name just in case the slip of paper floats away.

There are some limits to how much you can deduct. For example, your total tax deduction can’t exceed 50% of your adjusted gross income.

As most charities that accept car donations do so often, they’ll likely have the process down to a science and deal with all of the donation documentation paperwork required by the IRS for you. But if you’re curious or want to make sure you receive everything you need, here’s the IRS’s Donor Guide to Vehicle Donation.

If your vehicle was worth more than $500, the receipt must have more information:

• Your name and taxpayer identification number (usually your Social Security number).
• The vehicle identification number (VIN).
• A statement saying what the charity provided in return for the donation:
  • That no goods or services were provided.
  • That goods or services provided consisted entirely of intangible religious benefits.
  • A description and good-faith estimate of the value of goods or services.

If the vehicle was sold (rather than put into use by the charity) and worth more than $500, you’ll need the information above plus:

• A statement certifying that the vehicle was sold in an arm’s length transaction between unrelated parties.
• The date the vehicle was sold (in addition to the date the donation was made).
• The gross proceeds received from the sale.
• A statement that your deduction may not exceed the gross proceeds from the sale.

If the vehicle was kept and its fair market value is worth more than $500, you’ll also need a statement certifying that the charity:

• Will make a significant use of the vehicle, what the intended use is and the duration of that use.
• Will make a significant material improvement to the vehicle and what the improvement is.
• A statement certifying that the charity will give or sell the vehicle to a needy individual at a price significantly below fair market value for the purpose of helping those who are in need of a means of transportation.

What to look for when finding a charity to donate your car

Ensure the organization is a charity

Not all organizations that accept donations are charitable. Check that it’s registered with the IRS as a nonprofit. Besides making sure that your car is going to a good cause, this also ensures that you can deduct the donation from your taxes.

If you want to check out how efficient a charity is, these sites could help:

Check it it will accept your car donation

It’s not easy or cheap to pick up, process and resell a vehicle (or even tow it to a scrap yard). Not all nonprofits have the infrastructure to deal with car donations. And even ones that do might not be able to accept your car, depending on its type, condition and location. But, if your desired charity doesn’t, not all hope is lost.

You could donate your car to an organization that will do the work and give the proceeds to the charity of your choice. Charity Motors is one such company. Or, you could sell the car yourself and directly donate the cash. (Monetary donations to nonprofits are still tax deductible.)