Be wary of car donation push
January 22, 2008
ROADSIDE signs exhorting North Jersey drivers to donate their used cars to
the Outreach Center seem carefully generic, promising to "help kids in need" --
including, presumably, the grinning little girl pictured, who provides no
further clue as to what exactly this group does.
A look beyond the billboards yielded little in the way of satisfying answers,
but it should have prospective donors, and perhaps the government, asking
questions. The group is one of several in the region that are aggressively
promoting tax-deductible car donations while being less than forthright about
their missions.
Closely connected with a Brooklyn storefront synagogue led by a hard-line
Orthodox rabbi, the Outreach Center makes plenty of claims about its charitable
activities but does nothing to make its finances transparent, as The Record's
Harvy Lipman reported on Sunday. Moreover, some of its purported giving to other
charities is in dispute, and there is evidence that some of the proceeds are
going to distinctly non-charitable activities, such as real estate.
As a religious organization, the group does not have to file the annual
financial statements required of other tax-exempt non-profits, and it doesn't
provide them voluntarily as some religious groups do. Five different mainstream
charities contacted by The Record differed with or expressed concerns about the
Outreach Center's account of its support for them. And public records show the
group has lent hundreds of thousands of dollars to real estate developers, which
we find hard to reconcile with our understanding of what charities do.
Nevertheless, the center seems to be doing brisk business, claiming 3,500
donated vehicles a month and a $1.6 million annual budget. Other area groups
pushing car donations have bigger budgets, spend liberally on advertising and
other extra-charitable activities, and make mislead- ing or incomplete claims
about their purposes.
Some of this seems to merit further investigation by government officials,
especially in light of the tax revenue being effectively diverted to these
groups.
Donors, of course, should also be wary. Expensive advertising should at least
raise questions, as should an emphasis on the benefits to the donor (e.g., "car
donation = free vacation") rather than the goals of the charity. Many
established charities take car donations, while a number of independent groups
provide guidance for donors. Doing the research isn't that much harder than
reading a billboard.
ROADSIDE signs exhorting North Jersey drivers to donate their used cars to the
Outreach Center seem carefully generic, promising to "help kids in need" --
including, presumably, the grinning little girl pictured, who provides no
further clue as to what exactly this group does.
A look beyond the billboards yielded little in the way of satisfying answers,
but it should have prospective donors, and perhaps the government, asking
questions. The group is one of several in the region that are aggressively
promoting tax-deductible car donations while being less than forthright about
their missions.
Closely connected with a Brooklyn storefront synagogue led by a hard-line
Orthodox rabbi, the Outreach Center makes plenty of claims about its charitable
activities but does nothing to make its finances transparent, as The Record's
Harvy Lipman reported on Sunday. Moreover, some of its purported giving to other
charities is in dispute, and there is evidence that some of the proceeds are
going to distinctly non-charitable activities, such as real estate.
As a religious organization, the group does not have to file the annual
financial statements required of other tax-exempt non-profits, and it doesn't
provide them voluntarily as some religious groups do. Five different mainstream
charities contacted by The Record differed with or expressed concerns about the
Outreach Center's account of its support for them. And public records show the
group has lent hundreds of thousands of dollars to real estate developers, which
we find hard to reconcile with our understanding of what charities do.
Nevertheless, the center seems to be doing brisk business, claiming 3,500
donated vehicles a month and a $1.6 million annual budget. Other area groups
pushing car donations have bigger budgets, spend liberally on advertising and
other extra-charitable activities, and make mislead- ing or incomplete claims
about their purposes.
Some of this seems to merit further investigation by government officials,
especially in light of the tax revenue being effectively diverted to these
groups.
Donors, of course, should also be wary. Expensive advertising should at least
raise questions, as should an emphasis on the benefits to the donor (e.g., "car
donation = free vacation") rather than the goals of the charity. Many
established charities take car donations, while a number of independent groups
provide guidance for donors. Doing the research isn't that much harder than
reading a billboard.
