1) What is Charity Development’s Car Donation Process?

Our car donation process is what makes us a standout in vehicle donation fundraising. Steps one and two, especially, set us head and shoulders above others. Throughout all the steps, our focus is on maximizing the donation for both you and your donor.

A. We screen the vehicle donated. We examine each vehicle to determine its highest and best return on donation. We know the auto market, and we consider marketability as well as the vehicle’s physical condition. Many variables come into play in this one step alone. Our Founder stays on top of the vehicle market.

B. We determine the best marketing route for your best return on donation. We know the market and we place the donated car (or truck or other vehicle) where it will make the most money for your charity. Those outside the car donation fundraising industry may not know how rare this marketing step is. But this step alone can make the difference between you receiving a $100 check or a $1,000 check. (High-end car donations and vehicles that are donated in great shape can bring much more.) We also encourage car donors to sell their vehicles themselves if possible to get absolute top dollar donation.

C. Pick up the vehicle at the donor’s doorstep. We tow many vehicles, pick up others. We make sure the vehicle, in whatever shape it’s in, gets into your car donation pipeline.

D. Process the paperwork. Entire books could be written on the paperwork involved in making sure the car donated is recorded properly at local, state and federal levels both for tax purposes and for ownership title. A few samples of the paperwork we handle for you:
a. State documentation for taxes, as well as ownership
b. Federal tax documentation for annual filings
c. Property title transfer for your protection and for the donor’s
d. Additional paperwork: there’s a long trail of documentation that follows each vehicle donation, and it differs from state to state. We handle it all for you.

E. Receive and properly record the funds. As anyone in the not-for-profit world knows, tracking funds (in this case income from vehicle donations) is a serious piece of accounting. Your auditor and ours needs to know every penny received, and every dollar paid.

F. Write a check to your charity. The vehicle has been taken through every step, its value to you maximized, its tax credit to your donor maximized as well.

2) What’s an organization’s very best option to get the most value – the top return on donation – from a car donation?

Your absolute best option is for a car donor to sell the vehicle himself and donate the proceeds to your charity. This option will almost always give your charity the highest and best return on donation. (It only fails to top other options if the donor under-values the vehicle, thus reducing his – and your – proceeds.)