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August 25, 2016

Considering Donating Your Car? Understand How Your Donation Benefits Others

Are you ready to buy a new car? Great! Now the question is what to do with the car you currently own.

If your car is repairable and has a reasonable amount of miles, donating your car is a great way to go. Donating can benefit you and benefit an automotive school like Newgate School in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Schools like Newgate use your donated car, van, or truck like a textbook. Students learn automotive repair skills directly from the vehicles.

You will receive charitable deductions on your donation. If you donate to a charity that actually uses the car in its mission, you can receive the highest deduction available, a fair market tax deduction.

But perhaps the biggest advantage to donating your car is the benefits it provides others. In this blog, we’ll tell you exactly how donating your car can benefit other individuals. Read on to discover why you should donate your vehicle rather than sell it.

Your Donated Car Provides Youth With Educational Opportunities

Automotive schools, like Newgate School, accept donated cars and use them to provide young adults with educational opportunities. Depending on their circumstances, some low-income young adults may not have the opportunity to receive a higher education.

However, your donated car provides them with a key material they need to learn auto body and mechanical repair skills. Over a course of 18 months or so, students in these programs will learn basic skills they need to become apprentices in the auto repair industry. These vocational skills allow them to be more successful as they pursue a career in automotive work.

You’ll find Newgate School graduates employed as mechanics at a cement pump manufacturer and at the airport support vehicle maintenance shop. You’ll meet them painting small jets, repairing bus engines, or painting fire trucks. You’ll see them at your local mechanic shops, too. They’re everywhere, thanks to Minnesotans helping Minnesotans.

Your Donated Car Assists Single Mothers in Need

Once students repair your donated car, the vehicle’s usefulness continues to grow. Many donated, repaired vehicles are given to single mothers who struggle with their circumstances. Many of these mothers are trying to become self-sufficient, but they may lack the resources to do so.

To receive a donated, repaired vehicle, a single mother must meet a few requirements:

  • She must be a single mother with one or more dependent, school-aged children.
  • She needs to have a full-time job that she has held for at least six months.
  • Her annual income must be less than $35,000.
  • She must have proof of car insurance to protect the vehicle.
  • She cannot own any other vehicles.

If a woman meets these requirements, she can apply to receive a complimentary vehicle that allows her to more easily support herself and her children. While not every applicant is chosen to receive a vehicle, those who do are able to be more self-sufficient.

Your Donated Car Can Aid Your Community

Minnesota has only a few locally based charities that take car donations, but many national charities collect cars here and send the proceeds outside of the state. Consider the location of the charity’s headquarters before you donate.

At Newgate School, all proceeds from the sale of donated and/or refurbished vehicles stay right here in Minnesota. Minnesotans helping Minnesotans—what a good thing!

Some car donation programs open up opportunities for folks struggling to make a future for themselves. Some haven’t performed well in traditional schools. Others are immigrants who find English challenging but respond well to hands-on automotive training. Some are young military veterans, some injured, who need job skills to re-enter civilian life. And there are others whose lack of skills has limited their potential earnings to minimum wage.

These low-income young people thrive in tuition-free automotive career schools. The possible ways your donated car assists your community are truly endless.

Ready to Donate Your Vehicle?

As outlined above, donating your car not only benefits you greatly, but it also benefits others around you. To get started with the donation process, get in touch with a representative from Newgate School. We accept cars of any make, model, and year as long as the vehicle is in repairable condition.

When you donate your car, you truly do impact the lives of other people. Choose to donate your vehicle and see just how much this choice can benefit your entire community.