You’ll hear other charitable organizations solicit donations of used vehicles, so why not Radio Kansas?

We actually followed the trend and asked for vehicle donations for years, and used the Car Talk Vehicle Donation Program and other third-party vehicle programs, but we stopped when we found we could not guarantee that the donor would have a good experience.

As you can imagine, individual charities do not have the legal framework and transport infrastructure to take old cars and turn them into cash. Instead, local tow truck people are involved, regional auto auction houses are involved, and national paperwork clearinghouses are involved. None of these are Radio Kansas employees, and each is capable of having a bad day. Since we have no control how these people may treat our listeners, we choose not to invite listeners into this process.

Other charities may value a bit of cash more than they value the risk to their reputation. We’re not that way.

Back when we took cars we had thoughtful vehicle donors get billed for vehicle shipping and storage (We, of course, had those bills redirected to us). We had some people disappointed with the surrender process. Most importantly, we’ve had donors believing they’re making an $1800 donation to Radio Kansas when – after the auctioneer’s overhead – our average “net” on a vehicle donation was actually around $80. We can’t afford to have donors pausing their $120 annual pledge because they think they gave us much more all at once, when we actually got less than a year’s pledge.

Knowing the above, if your motivation is simply to get rid of an old vehicle, we recommend Vehicles for Charity at 866.628.(CARS) 2277. They have our contact information on file and can direct any proceeds our way if you wish. Thank you for being so thoughtful as to offer a vehicle to Radio Kansas as a donation, and thanks for understanding the situation.