Car Donation

If you're thinking about making a car donation, you are very likely to fall into one or more of the following categories.

One, you are a charitable person who is always seeking ways to give back. Two, you have a junk car rotting in your driveway that you need to get rid of. Three, you need a tax deduction.

For most Americans, making a car donation is a combination of two of the three. They have a junk car not worth fixing and they don't want to have to pay towing and disposal fees. Or they just bought a new car, are generally a charitable person, and the tax deduction cinches it.

Whatever the individual psychological motivations for making a car donation, as a society, Americans are donating junk cars in droves. Car Donation programs are popping up every month as small and large charities seek to capitalize on American's generosity, as well as our abundance of junk cars.

In most cases, charitable organizations don't have the tow trucks, salvage yards, and metal recycling infrastructure needed to dispose of car donations. Car donation charities tend to contract with local car removal businesses who agree to offer a percentage of what the junk cars are sold for at auction, at a scrap yard, or to metal recyclers.

The car donation ''movement'' shows no sign of slowing. Businesses are even getting into the car donation game, earning huge tax benefits by donating fleets of vehicles.

By most estimates, between 20% and 25% of all junk cars that leave America's roads each year are donated to charity. That number will almost certainly continue to grow.