Kars4Kids steers donors in the wrong direction
Filed under: Charity, Consumer Ally
While the annoying Kars4Kids radio jingle asking consumers to donate their unwanted cars for needy children seems straightforward enough, it may actually be steering donors down a road they didn't expect. All of the money raised by Joy for Our Youth (a.k.a. Kars4Kids) -- $16.2 million in 2007, according to their tax returns -- gets funneled to another charity called Oorah, which is never mentioned in the radio jingles or the billboards plastered along many major highways. Oorah is a Jewish religious organization whose stated mission is to heighten Jewish childrens' awareness of their heritage.
Among other things, the group provides scholarships for religious education and hosts a summer camp.
Not only do the radio commercials neglect to mention that's where the money goes, but the charity also dangles a free vacation offer as a sweetener -- not divulging, of course, that it's stocked with its own hidden agenda, including a required upfront payment from the donor and "the opportunity" to go to a timeshare sales presentation.
The '"free vacation" offers and lack of clarity regarding where funds actually go caught the attention of the states' attorneys general offices in Oregon and Pennsylvania this year. Both have taken action against the charity for deceiving donors and failing to register the organization in their states.
The Oregon Attorney General's Office charged that Kars4Kids "misled Oregon consumers about 'free' vacation offers and the charity's religious purposes."
"Kars4Kids also failed to disclose that its 'free vacation' offer was designed to recruit people to attend timeshare presentations. This is significant because deposits, cancellation fees and other conditions can end up costing consumers more than a "free vacation" is worth. In addition, receiving goods or services in exchange for a donation can eliminate the tax deductibility of the donation," the office said.
In its promotions, Kars4Kids makes the vacation offer seem like the donor is receiving something in exchange for their donation. Yet, in its dealings with the Oregon's attorney general's office, it argued that the voucher had virtually no value, according to documents obtained by WalletPop.
Oregon also charged that the organization claimed to be a "top-rated" charity, despite having no substantiation, and it failed to disclose that the donations were for religious purposes. Kars4Kids settled with the state in April, agreeing to stop offering "free vacations," to properly explain its religious affiliations and to pay $65,000.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett also reached a $65,000 settlement with Kars4Kids after accusing the group of misleading potential donors. Corbett's office took issue with the ad campaign's failure to note that only people of certain religious affiliation would benefit from the donation.
"Like so many other organizations that engage in national campaigns, Kars-4-Kids discovered that, while we were in compliance in other states, Pennsylvania and Oregon had certain, specific advertising policies that we arguably did not meet," wrote Yehuda Meth, the director of communications for Kars4Kids in an email. "We are now fully compliant in every state that we operate in."
"No one complains about the good work we do, nor the programs we fund," wrote Meth. "We are very proud of our work and have never attempted to hide that our programs have Jewish family values at their core."
And, he said there is no issue with the vouchers. "The vacation vouchers are provided by a third-party, but considering how many vouchers we have delivered, the percentage of dissatisfied customers is very low."
One more piece of information missing from the charity's promotional material is the diminished tax value of the cars donated to the group. Their claim that donors can get the maximum tax deduction allowed by law is true. But the catch is that the amount won't be very much, since the deductible value of the car is the typically very, very low salvage price.
Bennett Weiner, chief operating officer of the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, said potential donors need to pay close attention to where their donated money will be going.
"I would encourage people to know what the charity is doing with collected funds from these kinds of donations," he told WalletPop. "You're not always going to get a clear picture ...you cant base it on the name alone."
Weiner said donating an old car is a "gift of convenience" and the donor should ask how much of the resale goes to the charity since a third party has to be paid for its removal and other expenses. Also, he said, you cannot deduct the market value of the car, but how much the charity sells it for. Only if you find a group that intends to use the vehicle, could you claim a donation of the vehicle's fair market value, he said.
COMMENTS ON THIS POST HAVE BEEN TEMPORARILY DISABLED
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
11-20-2009 @ 6:11AM
Meggie said...
Let's show our youth how to lie! That's the way to do it!
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 6:34AM
Randy said...
I thought so!!! Who or whom else is doing things like this? You cruds!!!
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 6:49AM
David said...
Try this again. Randy read my comment below
11-20-2009 @ 6:40AM
ed said...
I feel like I was tricked into donating my car. I wanted to help all kids not just one group. I thought I was helping sick kids.
It should be made to publicly apologize.
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 12:35PM
nick said...
They should be prosecuted. This type of crap goes on everywhere. Problem is our society is just as dishonest as these Honest Religious groups are.
Nk
11-20-2009 @ 6:54AM
Manzoor A Memon said...
Most of charitable orgnizations are cheating the innocent and faithful people who want to do something in the name of God. Shame on all those who use 85% and more charitable funds for their operational expenses and few dollars tickles to the needy. This is the time IRS and other agencies audit all 501c orgnizations and see where the money is going? Looks like people forget that one day they have to answer to the Lord for their sins.
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 6:44AM
David said...
I feel almost all "charity" organizations are a real rip off when any of the money donated goes to pay millions to executives or is deceiptful in any way. I only support one organization and that is Ambucs here in my town and theier soul purpose is to provide help for handicapped kids, no one in the organization gets paid a dime and 100 per cent of funds raised goes directly to helping special needs children, They do not even get paid for thier gas or wear and tare on thier vehicles. So if you wish to donate to a cause that 100 per cent goes to those kids look up Ambucs and see if you do not agree with me, Thank You for reading this
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 11:26AM
cflotsofluck said...
I've never really trusted any place that takes donations!! I've always felt that the money never went to where you thought it was going!! For instance, I used to know someone that worked will "Goodwill", and she told me that she personally knew people at the top of the organization, that would line their own pockets with money that wasn't even theirs!! It happens everywhere!! Money has a way of turning the best of us, into thieves!! Or liars!!
11-20-2009 @ 6:50AM
this kid said...
sooo i just donated my car and after reading this i called the company and i cant get the car back ... soo thats a lost but next car that i get im just going ot junk it screw charities
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 6:52AM
Barbara said...
It is interesting that the stated mission is to heighten Jewish awareness and heritage amoung their children yet their advertising hides their Jewish intention to the listening audience. If you want to heightened awareness why not start with honesty?
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 7:02AM
bhockey said...
Donate your car to MADD they are totally ligit. I donated a car to MADD and they were terrific professional and extremely appreciative. Then years later I had another car with very high mileage, MADD wouldn't take it but these guys did. I felt like I was scammed from the day they showed up...they gave me this kit of sorts with the "free" trip, b/s, and other stuff, and before I knew it the car was being towed away...I never ever received a tax form from them, and after calling for over a year, i wrote it off as a scam...now I see the truth. They deserve jail time...we're donating thinking our money and property are going to assist kids in need, and these sob's are stuffing their pockets for some radical b/s.
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 6:58AM
Lisa said...
Garth Brooks charity, Teammates for Kids also gives 100% of the monies donated to the charities. Also, to qualify for the money the entity must file for it making sure none of the money to be given to them is for administrative purposes.
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 6:59AM
John said...
I donated a car once to a different, but similar, charity. About six months later I received a summons from a New York city court telling me that as the last registered owner of this vehicle I owed them almost $700.00 for towing and storage after this vehicle was towed from the street for a parking violation.
It turns out that it was sold at auction by the charity involved and the purchaser never registered it but put illigal license plates on it and ran it around New York City until it died then just abandoned it. Since I was on record as the last owner I was the one they came after and I almost lost my drivers license for failure to pay the fine. I WAS able to straighten it out by contacting the charity involved and telling them that they would never receive another donation from me and that I would use all means available to me, including the internet, to alert others about the situation and hopefully others would follow my lead and not donate either. They contacted the New York City court and got it straightened out but for me, never again. If I have cars to dispose of I'll sell them or junk them but never donate them.
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 7:16AM
maxiesmom067 said...
You managed to track down the entire "ownership" route your car took (sold on Ebay, phony plates, dead and abandoned) after you got the mysterious summonses, but you never received a formal receipt from the charity, nor did you turn in the old plates for a receipt, or notify your insurance company immediately, again for a 'termination of insurance due to transfer of ownership' form when you donated it (ANY of which would have served as ample proof that you were not responsible)? Wow, then you DESERVED the inconvenience you got.
11-20-2009 @ 8:33AM
John said...
maxiesmom067, you're an idiot. you assume WAY too much. I'll bet you see boogymen under the bed too.
A lot was left unsaid in my previous post. It was left unsaid for brevity NOT to give you a platform to vent your mistaken views about what I did or what you think I should have done. All was done according to DMV laws in effect at the time and still, because the person who bought the car at auction never titled or registered it I was on record as the last titled owner. It wasn't necessary for me to track down any so-called "ownership route", all I needed to track down was the charity that I donated it too. And you're right, the plates and insurance were never cancelled, they were transferred to the car that I bought to replace the one that I donated, again all according to all laws in effect at the time. Still, as last owner of record, I was the one that the NYC Parking Violations Bureau went after rather than follow up on the "ownership route" themselves.
I won't be responding to any additional posts that you may make, it's not worth my time to respond to someone like you who, with obviously limited intellect, will be posting only rants and raves, not well thought out reply's. Stop assuming so much and PLEASE, find the time to take a very long walk off of a very short pier.
11-20-2009 @ 11:20AM
jane said...
John GREAT REPLY!!
11-20-2009 @ 7:18AM
carl said...
i used to work for a car lot.thay advertice donate your car to charity.thay would get free cars and trucks and sell them for 100%profet .they would tell the people they donate $100 dollers and never did .sosthe store goes dont trust use car dealers .make the dealer write you a check out infront of you a you send it to your charity
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 7:11AM
Ed said...
Oye vey !!! Their spokesperson says they dont deceive and never get complaints ? How would anyone know what the purpose of the charity was from these ads ?? Maybe they should be required to say, "Kars4JEWISHKids ".........
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 7:14AM
Lucinda's Hope said...
OK, so everyone can look into where their charitable donation is going to by going to the charity network database online. Most people donate so they can get the tax writeoff, end of story. So the way I see it no harm no foul. If I find out that the money is not going to a purpose that I thought it was going to then I would stop donating to that organization. However, if I found out that an organization that I was donating to had to payout some state $65,000 because the state decided to investigate it's way of advertising ,I would be pissed off. I would much rather some Jewish child get the benefit of my donation than the state. And I am not Jewish! For those of you who look for organizatons where 100% of your donation goes to purpose and not costs, good luck. The staff donating their time and efforts usually is not rich and will burn out. Very few organizations survive non-payroll situations. If you want to make sure your donation is going directly to your cause, get involved and go feed the homeless yourself. In the meanwhile, I doubt the state is donating the settlement money to help kids. How sad.
Reply
11-20-2009 @ 7:33AM
doiexist1987 said...
If this were done by Christians or Catholics, like the christian charity funds then you people wouldnt have a problem with it. Stop being so god damn close minded and backwards. Jews are among the least dangerous and corrupt out there in terms of charities. Look at the christians now they are one self centered and greedy lot who make off like bandits every sunday with the collection pot to fund thier luxuries.
Reply