How a Car Donation in New York Will Genuinely Benefit a Nonprofit

The ALS fundraising campaign has been quite successful lately thanks to the participation of celebrities, but the campaign’s true goals may have been largely overshadowed by the hype generated by the “ice bucket challenge”. An article on Time’s MONEY website section, dated August 19, 2014 discusses how the ALS campaign, despite good intentions, might be focused too much on its ice-bucket-pouring gimmick:

 

As is inevitable with something as wildly successful as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge—$16 million has been raised for the ALS Association from July 29 through August 18, vs. about $19 million in donations for all of 2012—a bit of backlash is developing, and thoughtful voices are starting to raise concerns about the charitable giving campaign’s message and impact.

Among them: MONEY reporter Jake Davidson, who wrote an opinion piece for Time.com in which he pointed out problems with the way the campaign is crafted: Folks are asked to donate money to help battle ALS or pour a bucket of ice water on their heads; if taken literally, all those funny videos of celebs and Facebook friends would be of people who prefer being cold, wet, and uncomfortable to helping to fight the disease.

If you truly want to give to a good cause, you should look past a charitable drive’s gimmicks and actually do something to help the nonprofits involved. You do not even need to give away something fancy; your old car might be a good place to start. If you want to make a car donation in New York, you should keep in touch with organizations such as Miles Ahead Network to facilitate your generous offer.

Car donations are some of the most straightforward methods of pledging support to nonprofit organizations. As a bonus for your altruistic contribution, whenever you donate a car in New York, you will receive the appropriate tax benefits for your generosity.

(Source: How to Give Smarter in an ALS Ice Bucket World, http://time.com/money, Aug. 19, 2014)