What we do
DonateWheels catalogs 501(c)(3) charities operating vehicle donation programs and publishes plain-English guides to the IRS rules, the eligibility math, and the operational realities that decide what your donation is worth and where it lands.
Our sources
Charity profiles are built from two public datasets: the IRS Exempt Organizations Master File (the official Pub. 78 record of organizations to which contributions are deductible) and the ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer API, which exposes Form 990 filings going back to 2001. State-level rules are drawn from each state's DMV publications and attorney general charitable solicitation databases. Tax guidance follows IRS Publication 4303, "A Donor's Guide to Vehicle Donation," and current Form 1098-C and Form 8283 instructions.
What we are not
We are not affiliated with the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, or any listed charity. We do not accept payment for inclusion in the directory. We do not solicit vehicles, accept donations on behalf of charities, or process applications. Every link out to a charity is editorial — pursue verification directly with the IRS and the organization before any donation or application.
Methodology and updates
Our charity directory is refreshed periodically against the underlying public datasets. IRS status changes — including auto-revocations — can occur between our refreshes, so we ask every reader to verify current status using the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search before acting. Our editorial guides are reviewed at least annually against current IRS publications.
Editorial independence
We publish recommended-reading sections that surface third-party essays and explainers our editors find useful. Those slots are clearly labeled as editorial recommendations and are kept structurally separate from charity profiles and the directory. No charity is featured in the directory because of an outbound link relationship.