What You Need to Know About Car Donations in San Jose

Car donations are on the rise across United States. While it seems a little unusual to most people, car donation makes a lot of sense. It’s not every day that you get to help out another fellow human being but donating something you have no use for.

While there are many reasons for donating a vehicle some of the more common ones are as follows; repair costs are too much or the age or value of the vehicle prohibits expensive repairs, another reason is vehicle may be beyond its useful life.

If these are the case, then you may want to consider making a one-time donation to a charity of your choice. Not only will you receive a very valuable write off on your taxes, you have the reward of knowing that you helped someone when they needed it most.

In San Jose there are many worthwhile charities that you may wish to consider when researching charities to donate your vehicle to. There are some scams out there so we caution each and every one of you that may be considering this type of donation to do your homework.

The last thing you want to do is to donate your vehicle to someone that is just looking to make a profit masquerading as a legitimate charity.

Or if you are like many people do not have the time to research where to donate your vehicle. You just may want someone to point you in the right direction. Well we can help with that as well. We have taken some time and researched a variety of resources the San Jose area. By no means is this list meant to be comprehensive it is just a starting point and we are including reputable well-known organizations to make your life easier.

• The make a wish foundation The Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation was founded in 1984.  In that first year,  27 wishes were granted.  Now it has become one of the largest chapters nationwide, the Foundation has granted 5,000 wishes and grants over 300 wishes per year. All funds raised by the Foundation are used to fulfill our mission in the Bay Area.
• Habitat for humanity is a an organization that welcomes people of all beliefs to join in its mission. It is committed to eliminating poverty housing throughout the world. Our mission is to transform families and strengthen communities by building decent, affordable housing for long-term home ownership. We envision Habitat for Humanity Silicon Valley developing into a vibrant, growing producer of affordable housing.
• Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County The organization strives to empower the working poor to move beyond basic survival living to a state of meaningful, quality living through economic, family and emotional stability. Catholic Charities assists individuals and families to establish in their lives the anchors required to break the cycle of poverty. These anchors include housing, employment, education and emotional health.

In addition to providing you with these resources, there are a few other things you should know about donating a vehicle to charity. The IRS has been closely monitoring these types of donations for a few years. When you donate a vehicle to charity be very wary of anyone promises you that you can deduct more than the car would actually be worth at fair market value. Be very afraid of anyone promises you a free vacation exchange for your used vehicle. Charities did not provide rewards to those making donations other than the good feeling you get from helping a fellow human being out.