How to Donate a Car to Charity in California?

Donating a car to charity is probably the most rewarding decision that you can ever take. When you Donate or give away your car, you are not only doing charity but you are also truly helping to improve somebody’s life. To assist any needy individual, please give away your car to one of the recognized non-profit organizations in California.

Californians actually give away more vehicles than the people from any other states and major cities leads the list of car donation within California. Although there are numerous great non-profit organizations that accepts car nationwide, if you are living in the big city you would like to help people who are closer to your home, within your city.

As in any other task, vehicle donation demands some Planning, thinking, and research. To start with, you must identify your goals for donating your car within California. Are you inspired by actual good will or are you looking at getting rewards for yourself? Are you looking to claim your contribution as a tax write off? What specific causes you want to support and what exactly are your considerations in choosing any beneficiary charitable organization? Your answers to such questions will help you identify your beneficiary charitable organization. They will help you define your means for donating vehicle.

Decide how to get started

Next, you must decide how to go about it. Several charity goals in our life are never implemented in reality and they just remain as a wish to donate or contribute. It is because owners failed to know how to implement their plans. Here, you need to decide whether you would donate your car on your own or you want to seek the help of professional car donation Organization that operates in California. It merely depends on the amount of time and attention you are willing to put in this particular activity.

Vehicle donation within California is the best option when you have old cars. Owners may give away their vehicles such as vans, trucks, cars, boats and other types of vehicles to the charity organization of their choice. This is one of the best ways to dispose old car. Furthermore, you are able to help those people who are in need of assistance without having to worry about how to deal with it.

Your vehicle does not need to be in very good condition for it to be donated. Actually, damaged cars may also be donated. These facilities would tow the damaged vehicles at free of cost. They will repair these cars and then auction them for some profit. The amount of money gained from this auction will be given to the charity of your personal choice.

Steps needed to donate car in California

You must do some investigation along with facts-gathering. If you do not have any idea about good charitable organization, you must do some research to know the non-profit organizations within California that would accept your vehicle donation, and also about their requirements. If you want to seek the help of expert, you must know which organization can best match your requirements. Although it may require some work, vehicle donation is definitely a satisfying exercise.  

Make your car ready for Donation. While it is not essential for your car to be in great working condition, it will be good if one makes sure that his or her car is in good working condition. Simply wash it and make sure you have not left any of your personal things inside the car.

You also need to collect all essential documents including insurance and registration documents. In case you do not have title, Center for Vehicle donation can provide duplicate title forms. After collecting all these documents, go to the website of car donation organization, which you have selected earlier.  

Avoid bogus Charity organization – California has numerous fake vehicle donation organizations. Majority of them are ultimately closed or deactivated, but every now and then, some new fake organizations come up. So how will you identify which one is legitimate? One way to achieve this is to ensure that California charitable organization that you have selected is a registered organization. Here is the link for California Non-profit Charitable organization Database.This could prevent you from becoming a victim of any scam.

Finally, do not forget to inform your insurance company that you have donated your vehicle to charity organization. Do that on the same day you release your vehicle. This is very important because it will enable them to discontinue your insurance policy coverage.

Summary
Vehicle donation process is simple and the pickup is provided at free of cost. You can donate your vehicle even if it is not in proper working condition. You only need to possess title for your car and you should be located where tow truck can easily reach. In return to your car donation, you will definitely get an invaluable tax rebate and of course a proud feeling that you have done something good.