CarDonors.com launches first nationwide directory of auto-donation programs

Site helps consumers avoid fraud, save tax dollars

Palmdale, CA (PRWEB) May 6, 2004 -– Donate your jalopy, take a hefty tax deduction and help the underprivileged. What could be simpler, right?

Wrong. With scam artists running rampant and the IRS poised to pinch taxpayers who donate a Ford and deduct a Ferrari, the American taxpayer needs all the help she can get figuring out car donation.

Enter CarDonors.com, the first nationwide directory of auto-donation programs. The free site features a state-by-state directory of donation programs with Web sites, allowing users to easily find donation programs in their backyard. CarDonors also features the most current new stories about car donation from media sources around the country, an easy-to-understand section about relevant tax laws and a robust area of commonly asked questions and about the process of donating.

During the 2003 holiday season, CarDonors.com co-founder Wilbert Hoffman was considering donating his own car to charity and said he found precious little information to guide him.

"There were hundreds of programs out there and occasional new stories about the subject," Hoffman said, "but nothing definitive – no one-stop-shop that had all the information I really need to know. It took forever to figure out which programs were legit, how much money Id really save and who would get my car."

Hoffman ended up keeping his car, but he also began compiling information on donation programs, tax benefits, scams and media coverage.

"There were plenty of 'gotcha' TV news stories by consumer reporters, but very little follow-up," Hoffman said. "We built CarDonors.com to provide some depth and to be one comprehensive place that potential donors could go to find out anything they needed to know about the process."

CarDonors.com also offers a $500 scholarship every three months, for which high school seniors and current college students can apply at the CarDonors.com Web site.