Things To Ask Yourself When You Decide To Donate Your Car To Be Recycled

Donating an old vehicle and getting a tax receipt for your donation offers a win-win situation — you get rid of a vehicle that you no longer need, while a local charity can recycle it and earn some needed funds. Depending on where you live, there may be a few different charitable organizations that accept old vehicles, so you may wish to contact a couple of them to decide which will best suit you. You'll also need to think about some topics yourself to make this process go smoothly for everyone involved. Here are some things to ask yourself.

Can I Drop Off The Car?

One of the big perks of donating your vehicle to a charity is that it will tow the vehicle away for you. This means that your effort throughout the process is minimal — you arrange a time for the vehicle to be picked up and you'll eventually receive money in the mail. However, you should always consider driving the vehicle to the organization's drop-off point if you can. This saves the charitable organization the expense of paying a towing service to pick up the vehicle, and thus leaves more money in the charity's bank account.

What Charity Do I Want To Support?

While some charities have specific car pick-up campaigns, you'll often find other organizations that will collect your vehicle for you and donate proceeds to a specific charity. If you go this route, you'll need to decide what charity you wish to support. When you call to set up the deal with the company, ask for a list of the charities it works with; typically, you'll be directed to a page on the organization's website that lists all of its partner charities. Giving this topic some thought before the pick-up ensures that you have your decision made by the time you're asked.

Is The Car Valuable Enough To Sell?

In many cases, if you're donating a vehicle to charity, it will be recycled. However, if there's some value in the vehicle and you can't be bothered trying to sell it yourself, you should always let the charity know. Some charitable organizations will hold auctions or conventional sales of the vehicles that they pick up and that other people may want. This can often raise more in funds for the charity, so this is always worth determining and mentioning when you call to set up a time for your vehicle pick-up.

For more information, contact companies like American Relief Foundation.