It always seems like when it comes to vehicle donation organization names, whenever there’s a number standing in for a word, it’s a sign that the organization is about as good at supporting charitable causes as it is at spelling.
That’s more or less the case with DonateACar2Charity.com, although this organization is way more transparent than most and it’s pretty obvious that they have good intentions but lack the expertise to carry out their mission efficiently.
The About Us section of DonateACar2Charity.com immediately makes it clear where your money is going, and it’s going to Activated Ministries, a nonprofit Christian organization that works to improve the quality of life for those in need around the world, including its own missionaries, most of whom are unpaid volunteers scoring big-time brownie points with the Great Charitable Giver in the Sky.
Activated Ministries
Activated Ministries is a humanitarian and spiritual organization that provides scholarships to children of current and former missionaries and runs a number of programs that include orphan Christmas camps in Africa, English teaching camps in Thailand, and building houses and schools in Uganda through volunteer missionary labor.
Some of the cars donated through DonateACar2Charity.com end up in Activated Ministries’ Cars2Care program, which provides low-income individuals – particularly returning missionaries – with working vehicles. The other cars are sold at auction, and all of the net proceeds (the sale price of the car minus direct expenses) go to fund programming.
Activated Ministries on Guidestar
Guidestar is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to make it easy for the general public to evaluate the vast number of charities that operate in the U.S. as 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporations. Guidestar compiles financial and other information each charity, including its IRS Form 990, which is what nonprofits file with the IRS every April 15.
Section IX of Form 990 breaks down the organization’s expenses for the fiscal year into three categories:
- Programming includes the programs and services the charity provides to directly impact the lives of others in accordance with their mission statement.
- Management (or administration) includes salaries, rent, utilities, and other overhead costs associated with conducting business.
- Fundraising includes all of the expenses incurred in an attempt to convince people to part with their cash and goods to benefit the cause.
Charities are considered to be highly efficient if they put at least 75 percent of their funds toward programming, with the remaining 25 percent covering administrative and fundraising costs.
According to their 2013 Form 990, Activated Ministries brought in $3,082,405 that year and passed along $1,070,973 to their various programs. That amount accounts for just 35 percent of their expenses, which is highly inefficient. Only 15 percent was put into administrative costs, which is a good indicator of their lofty intentions since that means that salaries are probably in line with what they should be and that they work to keep overhead expenses down. But the remaining 50 percent went toward fundraising. That’s a sign that Activated Ministries needs to figure out a better, more cost-effective way to raise funds.
DonateACar2Charity.com Frequently Asked Questions
I’m sure you still have questions about how to donate a car to charity, so here are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about DonateACar2Charity’s car donation process.
Does it take long to pick up my vehicle?
No. DonateACar2Charity can coordinate with you regarding your ideal pick-up date. Upon confirmation, they can pick up your car within only a few days.
In case you are in a hurry, you can always call them and request for the pick-up to be scheduled sooner.
You don’t even have to be present when the towing company picks up the car – you just need to properly inform them where your keys are, make sure no personal belongings are left in your car, and leave the car title so that they can submit it to DonateACar2Charity.
Is my car donation to DonateACar2Charity tax deductible?
Yes. All donated items, cars included, to DonateACar2Charity will benefit Activated Ministries, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Christian Ministry approved by the IRS. So donations to them are tax-deductible.
If you want to learn more about how tax deduction works, you can check their A Donor’s Guide to Vehicle Donations.
Are there specific requirements for the type of vehicle I can donate?
DonateACar2Charity welcomes any type of car that can be sold, whether it’s in good driving condition or not.
They usually receive cars, boats, fleet vehicles, motorcycles, RVs, trailers, trucks, or vans.
If your donation is not on this list, it’s a good idea to send them an email (info@donateacar2charity.com) to confirm if they accept your car donation. Better yet, call them toll-free at 877-505-5775 for a quicker response time.
What documents do I need to submit?
The only thing that most car donation programs require from donors is their vehicle titles.
But in case you do not have the title, you can still contact them to see if there’s any workable arrangement that they come up with.
There are two ways to contact them:
- Submit a Car Donation Form
- Call them at 877-505-5775 (toll-free).
The Bottom Line for DonateACar2Charity.com
Here’s the thing. There are a few different types of car donation entities, and DonateACar2Charity.com falls into the category that I like to call “the arm,” which means that the vehicle donation program in question is the vehicle donation arm of a single charity, and the proceeds go to support that charity.
Some inefficient “charities” are really just a front for making a few people super-duper rich, while others have good intentions for bettering humanity but just can’t seem to get the ratio of fundraising costs to donations received quite right.
I’m pretty sure Activated Ministries falls into the latter category. Fundraising is expensive, but there are a lot of charities that do it efficiently while still raising millions of dollars for their cause.
So if you want to donate to Activated Ministries because you have a vested interest in that organization and want to support them, go ahead and donate your car.
But just know that if your car sells for $500, only about $175 of that money will get to Uganda or Thailand or wherever.
Half, or $250, will go toward trying to get more donations. Only $75 will be used for overhead expenses, meaning that at the very least, Activated Ministries buys cheap toilet paper and turns off all of the lights at the end of the day.
DonateaCarToCharity.com has received our 3-star rating which is our average rating, however, if our rating was based on transparency alone they would receive a 5-star rating.