It was about twenty years ago that charities first developed the concept of accepting vehicles as a means for raising capital. It became so successful that now many chartable organizations around the country are doing it. Of course, charitable organizations do differ in how they use the money that they collect, so that is just one thing to consider before donating a vehicle to charity. That is not all though, because there are several other things that you might want to take into consideration before picking up your phone.

Pink slip or Title of Ownership Required

One thing that many people are not aware of, is that most of these types of charities will take more than just cars as donations. Livestock and utility trailers, as well as trucks and travel trailers are also regularly accepted. You will however, have to have a pink slip or deed of title to transfer the vehicle over before any of them will take possession of what ever it is that you are planning on donating.

Verify that the Charity is Legitimate

Make sure to check to verify that the charitable organization that you are planning on donation to is a legitimate charity. You can do this by checking to see if they are in fact registered with the proper state or federal agencies. If they can’t confirm this to you immediately then you should be suspicious.

Get a Written Estimate

Any legitimate charity that you are donating your vehicle to should be able to provide you with a written estimate of the actual value of the vehicle. You will need this to claim your charitable donation on your tax return. If they are unwilling to provide one for you then you would be well advised to find a charity in your community that will.

Where is the Money Going?

Also, it doesn’t hurt to ask them what they are going to do with the money that they are going to generate from the sale of the car that you donate. The reason being, that while some charities confine their efforts to meet local needs,others will use the money for projects that they have going in other states or even other countries.