Donate Motorhome

[bhivetravels]

Has anyone tried or know of others who have tried to donate their motorhome to a charity? My wife's medical condition is such that continued travel after this season looks extremely doubtful. We still have a loan attached to the Class A and was considering a go-fund-me approach to paying off the balance and then donating the motorhome to a charity that can actually use it. Any thoughts? What charity?

[msturtz]

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.

[polly_sue]

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.