Donate Motorhome

Don't rule out the RESCUE SQUADs or LOCAL SHERIFF OFFICE. They sometimes might want to use something like this for some of their mobile setups for emergencies...

Roy Ken

you are better off and the charity is better off if you sell it out right pay off the loan and then donate what is left to a GOOD charity. some who will use all the money for what it is intended and not for CEO salary or advertising. to me that is local charities like salvation army or little league teams. the local school band is another one.

bhivetravels wrote:
Hmmm ... I didn't realize the promotion/auction company got so much and the charity so little! What about an organization that can actually use the vehicle -- not sell it but use it for their work?

That is extremely rare to have a charity actually use an RV. Most charities are not set up to handle motorhomes. Depending on the motorhome and state it may even require a CDL to drive. This doesn't even count the commercial liability insurance required to operate it.

Hmmm ... I didn't realize the promotion/auction company got so much and the charity so little! What about an organization that can actually use the vehicle -- not sell it but use it for their work?

Be careful as many of the common vehicle donation charities get only pennies on the dollar from an auction sale. How it works is the commercial charity promotion company will pick up the unit and get title (your bank won't release title until it is paid off) and then will arrange to auction off the vehicle. The promotion company keeps a large portion (sometimes up to 80% - 90%) and cuts a check to the charity for the leftover amount. If you still have a loan and you can't afford to pay it off you will be unable to donate it anyway because most places want clear title anyway. You are better off selling it yourself and if you like donating the amount over the loan balance directly to a charity.

Do your research first, including with your tax advisors. (I know this is part of that research!) I was president of a not-for-profit that received an older Class C motorhome. The donor's valuation was far higher than its fair market value and we were only able to sell it for less than half the donor's stated value. Storage of the unit was a problem, too, since we were not in that business! (This was pre-recent tax code changes regarding this kind of donation, so the donor got his deduction...) It was more trouble than it was worth, to tell you the truth, because the "donation" was part of the executive director's target fundraising goal which triggered a bonus to her. Not a good situation at the time. I realize this was more of a problem for the recipient than for the donor, but the rules have changed.