Giving the Gift of Mobility: How Vehicle Donation Can Drive Impact in San Diego

April 07, 2025 | By NRCF Team

At Nation­al Rain­bow Col­lege Fund (NRCF), we believe in har­ness­ing every oppor­tu­ni­ty to sup­port LGBTQ+ stu­dents on their jour­ney to success—and that includes the often-over­looked gift of vehi­cle dona­tions.

At first glance, a vehi­cle might not seem like a tra­di­tion­al char­i­ta­ble gift.

But for many donors, a car, truck, RV, boat or even motor­cy­cle rep­re­sents a powerful—and often overlooked—opportunity to sup­port the caus­es they care about most. When thought­ful­ly donat­ed, a vehi­cle can become a mean­ing­ful asset that fuels last­ing impact across San Diego.

Just as real estate or appre­ci­at­ed stock can be used as a tool for phil­an­thropy, vehi­cle dona­tions offer a strate­gic way to give back, reduce tax­able income, and avoid the bur­dens of sell­ing or main­tain­ing an unwant­ed vehi­cle. For donors who no longer need a car or are sim­ply ready for a new one, this type of com­plex asset can pro­vide a sur­pris­ing­ly sim­ple path to giv­ing.

A Smart Way to Repurpose a Vehicle

If you’ve ever sold a car, you know the process can be time-con­sum­ing and cost­ly.

From adver­tis­ing and meet­ing poten­tial buy­ers to man­ag­ing repairs and paper­work, sell­ing a vehi­cle requires a sig­nif­i­cant invest­ment of time and resources. And for vehi­cles with lim­it­ed resale val­ue, the return might not be worth the has­sle.

By con­trast, donat­ing a vehi­cle to a trust­ed phil­an­thropic part­ner like San Diego Foun­da­tion, which pow­ers Nation­al Rain­bow Col­lege Fund, allows you to bypass the headaches of a pri­vate sale while unlock­ing real val­ue for the com­mu­ni­ty. San Diego Foun­da­tion accepts a wide range of vehicles—whether run­ning or not—and han­dles the details on your behalf, includ­ing pick­up, title trans­fer and sale. Pro­ceeds from the dona­tion can then be direct­ed to Nation­al Rain­bow Col­lege Fund.

What Qualifies as a Vehicle Donation?

You might be sur­prised at the vari­ety of vehi­cle types that can be donat­ed through San Diego Foundation’s vehi­cle dona­tion pro­gram. In addi­tion to cars and trucks, the pro­gram accepts:

  • Motor­cy­cles
  • RVs and campers
  • Boats and trail­ers
  • Jet skis and snow­mo­biles
  • Com­mer­cial and fleet vehi­cles

Whether you’re down­siz­ing your lifestyle, upgrad­ing your ride, or man­ag­ing a vehi­cle left behind in an estate, donat­ing a vehi­cle pro­vides a flex­i­ble and impact­ful alter­na­tive to sell­ing or stor­ing.

Simple and Secure Process

San Diego Foun­da­tion part­ners with CARS (Char­i­ta­ble Adult Rides & Ser­vices), a trust­ed non­prof­it vehi­cle dona­tion provider, to make the process easy for donors. Here’s how it works:

  1. Sub­mit a Dona­tion Form
    Start by com­plet­ing a sim­ple online form at sdfoundation.careasy.org or call the toll-free num­ber pro­vid­ed on the site. You’ll need your vehicle’s title in hand, along with a few details about its con­di­tion and loca­tion.
  2. Sched­ule Free Pick­up
    A licensed tow­ing agent will con­tact you to sched­ule a con­ve­nient time for free pickup—often with­in 24 to 72 hours.
  3. Vehi­cle is Sold at Auc­tion
    Once picked up, your vehi­cle is sold at auc­tion. The net pro­ceeds are trans­ferred direct­ly to San Diego Foun­da­tion to sup­port the fund or cause you des­ig­nate.
  4. Receive a Tax Receipt
    You’ll receive a writ­ten acknowl­edg­ment and IRS-com­pli­ant tax receipt that may enti­tle you to a char­i­ta­ble deduc­tion.

Not only does San Diego Foun­da­tion take care of logis­tics, but it also ensures com­pli­ance with IRS regulations—giving you peace of mind while ampli­fy­ing your phil­an­thropic impact.

 

Vehicle Donation as a Legacy Tool

For many donors, a vehi­cle dona­tion is a one-time oppor­tu­ni­ty to give back. But for oth­ers, it’s part of a broad­er phil­an­thropic strategy—especially when the vehi­cle is part of an estate plan, trust or finan­cial restruc­tur­ing.

When viewed through the lens of com­plex asset giv­ing, vehi­cles can offer a bridge between per­son­al cir­cum­stances and com­mu­ni­ty need. Donat­ing a vehi­cle from an inher­it­ed estate, for exam­ple, allows fam­i­ly mem­bers to avoid the cost and coor­di­na­tion of man­ag­ing the sale them­selves.

For small busi­ness own­ers or retirees, donat­ing a com­pa­ny car or RV that’s no longer in use turns a depre­ci­at­ing asset into a force for good.

Whether your goal is to sim­pli­fy your estate, reduce your tax bur­den or fund a donor-advised fund (DAF), vehi­cle dona­tion can serve as a smart com­po­nent of your giv­ing port­fo­lio.

 

Drive Change in Our Region

San Diego Foun­da­tion inspires endur­ing phil­an­thropy and enables com­mu­ni­ty solu­tions to improve qual­i­ty of life in our region. From build­ing eco­nom­ic sta­bil­i­ty for fam­i­lies to expand­ing access to edu­ca­tion for LGBTQ+ stu­dents and pre­serv­ing our envi­ron­ment, your vehi­cle dona­tion can sup­port the issues that mat­ter most to you, like Nation­al Rain­bow Col­lege Fund.

By donat­ing a car, truck or oth­er vehi­cle, you’re not only clear­ing space in your garage—you’re fuel­ing access to oppor­tu­ni­ty.

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re con­sid­er­ing donat­ing a vehi­cle, San Diego Foun­da­tion makes it easy to turn your keys into a cat­a­lyst for com­mu­ni­ty change. Learn more about the vehi­cle dona­tion process, tax ben­e­fits and how to des­ig­nate your gift by vis­it­ing the Ways to Give page.

Let your next move be one that dri­ves last­ing impact.

Your vehi­cle dona­tion is an invest­ment in brighter futures for LGBTQ+ stu­dents.

Donate today.