Charities see car donations drop off in recession
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The executive director of the nonprofit Rawhide Inc. says he knew early on that the economy was tanking: Car donations dropped off.
Rawhide Inc. runs a ranch for troubled teens in New London. About one-third of its budget comes from the donation and resale of cars, boats and other vehicles.
Executive director Tim Costello says Rawhide received 6,100 vehicles last year — about 8 percent less than the year before.
Other charities say they've had a similar experience.
Jesus Cares Ministries in Milwaukee received 15 vehicles last year, down from 26 in 2006. Only one person has inquired about donating a vehicle this year.
Resource development counselor James Klein says people are holding onto their cars "until the wheels fall off" in the poor economy.
Feb 10, 2009 at 11:30 a.m.
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Changing the tax law to allow only what the vehicle sold for at auction for your deduction didn't help, either. Before that change you could deduct the blue book price (or whatever you wanted within reason). That change might be a bigger factor than the economy.
Feb 10, 2009 at 11:05 a.m.
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The statistics of the housing bubble show that there was $7 trillion (with a T) added to the economy by mortgages. You know a lot of that was going to keeping people in new vehicles every third year. Same reason that GM is in the pits.
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Also, when times are tight, people look more closely at the tax benefits of gifts like this. They are not great (and never have been) unless you have a lot of income to offset. They're also expensive for the non-profits to manage. It really is more gimmick than useful.
Feb 10, 2009 at 9:58 a.m.
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I see on ECHO's service reports, that they only had one car donated in 2008.
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