Vehicle Donation Tips & Ideas

Thinking about donating your car to participate in the One Less Car Challenge? Vehicle donation is often a great way to go. Donating a vehicle to a 501c3 nonprofit organization is tax deductible. You can also count on it being easy with vehicle pickup at your home. But there are important things you should know before deciding where to donate. Please read on!

How do I find reputable charities?

These days it's important to do your due diligence before donating. A helpful resource for beginning the process of evaluating a charity is Charity Navigator.

Charity Navigator provides a helpful rating system to quickly assess the financial health of organizations, giving you an easy-to-read-breakdown of their most recent financial data (from their latest yearly IRS form). You'll be able to see, for example, if too much of the organization's money is being spent on fundraising, leaving little money for actual program work. As a general rule of thumb, fundraising expenses shouldn't be more than 25% of an organization's total yearly expenditures.

If you really want to get serious about making sure your vehicle is going to the right organization, there's more you should know. You may also want to read up on how to become a savvy donor, regardless of the type of gift.

How do I report that my vehicle has been donated?

A vehicle donation must be reported to the Washington State Department of Licensing. You must file your report of sale with the state within 5 days of selling, gifting or donating your vehicle.

There are two ways to file a vehicle report of sale – online for no charge or in person at a vehicle licensing office (where additional service fees may apply). For a donation, enter the sale amount as “zero” and confirm with the charity who should be listed as the purchaser/transferee in their case. Visit the Department of Licensing's website for details.

How do I donate my vehicle for the One Less Car Challenge?

Once you apply for the program we’ll get you up to speed on the details. For Level 2 participation we’ll ask for proof of donation as part of our Level 2 Contract. This means a signed letter from the charity, on letterhead, stating the date of the donation*, what was donated, the value of the donation (if available) and the charity’s phone number and address (if not included on their letterhead).

*Date of donation is the date you informed the charity of your desire to donate the vehicle, not the day they picked up/received the vehicle, or the day it was sold at auction.