Donating your timeshare to a charity- Did it work for you?

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

USA Special Needs...

I made contact with usaspecialneeds.org and there was a new person (Maggie) running things from when I'd dealt with them, but they are still accepting timeshares. They require a cash donation (similar to the Timeshare Relief models)...

Per Maggie, they accept all timeshares and campgrounds that are free and clear (unless the resort does not allow a corporation to own the property) and agree to deed the property into the charity's name when the ownership and account status have been confirmed. Once the charity has ownership, they normally try and sell the property- but stated there are some ownerships that they keep to use for rental and fund-raising purposes where they auction off vacation packages at live gala events throughout Colorado and Florida. She said that often they'll have a cooperative agreement with other charities and split the proceeds.

They sell and rent through several brokers, but currently do have a number of low value properties that they haven't been able to sell. The one thing I was actually impressed with is that they don't give you the "you'll get a huge tax benefit from your timeshare" ploy.. They told me I'd get tax benefit for the cash donation, but recommended I wait to claim the timeshare until I got a second tax form showing what it actually sold for, since many sell for very little.

I then came clean and told her who I was- and got them to have a recent donor call me as a reference since I actually had a buyer for one of their junk weeks. He told me he donates at least two weeks from Hotel on the Cay each year to the charity (I called the resort and they confirmed this- plus said the guy still owns another sixty or so intervals! A little excessive for one location IMHO!)....

They still seem legit- so if you've been tempted by the Timeshare Relief or Timeshare Freedom pitches- send me a PM and I'll give you contact info for this group.

I'm going to be checking into a few more of these charities over the next few months- so again- if you have feedback on a charity please share!

update:
No form 990 info found but I found articles of incorporation. Richard Byron Peddie shows as registered agent, and Louis Courte shows on the board of directors.

update: 7/3/09
I s.w Maggie today. She stated that the board has suspended the timeshare program as they review the feasibility of continuing to accept timeshares.. Currently, they are not accepting any new donations as they attempt to liquidate the inventory already held in the charity's name.

update: 1/7/10
Maggie is still there, but the charity no longer accepts any real estate or timeshares. Cash donations have also dried up, so they aren't sure at this point if the charity will be able to continue operating. She said they still have two properties they have not been able to get rid of.. She is not sure if they'll be able to pay the fees this year.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Southern New Hampshire University...

Southern New Hampshire University...This charity is affiliated with SellMyTimeshareNow and Timeshare HotDeal LLC. The charity enters into a one-year donation/listing agreement with the timeshare owner to try and locate a buyer for the property. If a buyer can be located, the proceeds from the sale (minus any broker commissions earned) are paid to Southern New Hampshire University at closing. Closings are handled by SellMyTimeshareNow's inhouse closing company, Transfer My Timeshare, LLC.

Update*****

No form 990 info found.

Update*****

I've been informed they are closing down their in-house closing company. Closings will now be disbursed to different closing agencies- with the majority going to Chicago Title. I would expect the commission requirement to be increased slightly to make up for the lost closing revenue, but no confirmation of that was given to me.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Florida Veterans Assistance....

Florida Veterans Assistance.... I contacted this group and I'm sorry to say I was not very impressed.

The first gentleman I spoke with told me there were no upfront fees and any property would be accepted.. I was pretty skeptical at this point, so he handed the phone to a Joel who introduced himself as the company president. Joel said the first guy was new and must have made a mistake since there were upfront fees involved with a timeshare donation, but he couldn't say what those would be. He then admitted he didn't know one timeshare from another so said couldn't help me either, but did promise to have the "resort guru" call me.

About an hour later, I received a call from a Kim who introduced herself as the timeshare coordinator for the charity. Kim, I am happy to say- actually new what a timeshare was and stated that she handled all the paperwork for timeshares. She said that they sold the properties through about three different brokers, and that the timeshare would only be accepted if one of the brokers wanted the property. She would not disclose who any of those brokers were. She stated that the donor would have to pay all the closing and transfer costs, as well as an additional fee to the charity (but again- could not or would not tell me what that fee would be...)....

Kim said that they operated much like a telemarketing operation and bought calling lists of timeshare owners, but didn't know where those lists came from.

My overall impression of this group was very poor, as they never seemed to be able to provide me with any specifics. My first impression was that this charity simply treated timeshare donations as a by-product of their traditional fund raising campaigns- and that they simply checked with a few brokers for offers on any timeshare donations that they were offered. If the brokers would buy the property, the charity would accept it..

However- with the disclosure that they actually used calling lists to target timeshare donations- that theory didn't make much sense. The cost of staging telemarketing campaigns and buying owner lists to target timeshare sellers made their business model unrealistic to me- since only one person seemed to have any real timeshare experience. I just felt that there must be something else involved with the operation this group.

If anyone has any past experience with this charity, please share your thoughts. Did I just get them during a very bad day- or are they simply a lead generator for another company (often charities are used for telemarketing purposes since they are exempt from federal and state "Do not call" restrictions).

***

update: I found info about this group on another thread as well that didn't seem very positive.. http://www.tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82924

***

update: I've spoken with them again recently.. Kim states they were working with a sales group tied to a small closing agency that recently defaulted on over 200 purchase agreements, and they are now attempting to find information on the status of all these ownerships. Needless to say- they are currently swamped with calls and upset clients, and are trying to recover- but there may be some serious delays in store.. If you are involved in a donation to this group that hasn't closed yet, I'd recommend you contact and request a status to find out if you are in the group of defaults.

***

update: I had recent correspondence with Brian Rogers (owner of TUG), who believes this organization is a valid charity with good intentions, so perhaps my first impression was not a true litmus test for their character. Brian believes they simply made a mistake by developing a relationship with a reseller, and believed these ownerships had already been transferred.

***

update: Joel Markman signed the 2006 form 990 as company president showing donations received totaling $442,961. No 2007 filing was available.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Charity Foundation, Inc.

Charity Foundation, Inc........ As indicated by Spence earlier, this charity is affiliated with 2nd Market Timeshares out of Virginia.

Donors pay a transaction and processing fee that varies based on the resort being donated (similar to the Timeshare Relief model) to have the ownership transferred to the charity. Lower demand ownerships would have to pay a higher transaction fee. The charity in turn tries to liquidate the timeshares via the brokerage. Most properties are accepted.

The employees were upfront with information, and the affiliated brokerage has a good knowledge of the industry and is experienced with the transfer process for most properties. If you've considered paying someone to take a timeshare off your hands, you may want to ask this group for info.

***
update

C. Larrie Kline signed the 2007 990EZ as the company president showing $0. as the total donations for the year.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Works of Life ministries....

TimeshareDonations.org is website of Works of Life Ministries, Inc out of California. I tried pulling the business records from the state, but only found one business entry showing a suspended status (under the registered agent name of a Cameron Arballo).

I then called and spoke with a gentleman there who was very forthright in how they process their donations. He wasn't aware of the state's registration status, but said the organization basically operates to refer donations out to other companies- which handle the entire process for a finder's fee.

With timeshares, potential donors fill out an online info form that is then sent to the Florida Veterans Assistance group out of Florida. An agent from that group will call within two to three business days. The gentleman at Works of Life says they've only been accepting timeshares for about a year, and that he didn't have any knowledge of the industry but simply acted as a lead generation and referral source for the Florida organization.

update:
No form 990 info found.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

American Kidney Fund...

I found a great article regarding the American Kidney Fund. Down to your last resort? Donate your time share (Page 1 of 3)

They refer timeshare donations to Donateforacause.org , which if accepted are then sold by GO Timeshare or Savvy Timeshares, and closed by Resort Closings, Inc.

Donate for a Cause has recently also been asking for a cash donation as well, which differs from their past business model. A client was recently told he would need to donate $899. to have his timeshare accepted.

I've condensed some of the info from the article below- but please refer to the main document in the above link.

"Trying to sell a time share is pretty tough," says Bill Rogers, founder of the Timeshare Users Group. "There are so many on the market. A lot of times it's easier for people to donate it to charity and take the tax write-off than to try and sell it themselves," he says.

Another company handles details, sells the properties and processes the paperwork for a commission of 35 percent of the sales price, plus $190. Whatever the actual selling price, the organization gets a minimum donation of $100, says Lew Fontek, director of corporate and foundation giving for the American Kidney Fund.

This article may shed some light on the selling broker's commission rate when the properties are actually sold. It also included some specific info on the number that have been sold and rejected.

update: Donate for a Cause - no form 990 info found

[sparky Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sparky]

Timeshare donations

Defeat Diabetes Foundation also works with Donate for a cause and accepts timeshare donation. There URL is Defeat Diabetes Foundation - Awareness + Action = Prevention
I recen;ty donated my Vistana timeshare and had good service with this organization.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

Sparky: Are you named after Clark Griswold?

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

National Foundation for Cancer Research....

National Foundation for Cancer Research....
nfcr.org refers timeshare donation requests to the Donate for a Cause organization for review, processing, and sale of the property. Proceeds from the sale are paid to NFCR at closing. If you are interested in this group, I'd recommend you contact Donate for a Cause directly to discover if your ownership would be accepted, and if so simply choose the charity you want proceeds paid to.

I was unable to determine what commission percentage is taken for the selling agent, but I'd assume it's similar to the agreement with American Kidney Fund below.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

The Children's Home

www.childrens-home.org/timeshare.html

The Children's Home....
TCH refers timeshare donation requests to the Donate for a Cause organization for review, processing, and sale of the property. Proceeds from the sale are paid to the charity at closing. If you are interested in this group, I'd recommend you contact Donate for a Cause directly to discover if your ownership would be accepted.

Refer to similar posts in this thread for info relating to the Donate for a Cause organization.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

www.donatetimeshareonline.com

Donate Timeshare Online, Inc / FREE AT LAST
Fremont, CA

This is a charity owned by the reseller, Timeshare Angels. It doesn't look like there are any upfront processing fees, but the process is handled as a listing for Timeshare Angels- with an undisclosed commission that will be made by the brokerage at closing and the remainder of the sale proceeds being paid to the charity of your choice.

The deed remains in your name until it can be sold.

In most cases, this is not a process I would recommend. If you property can be sold, simply sell it on your own or via a brokerage with a previously agreed commission amount and then donate your proceeds to the charity you pick.

[Everett Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Everett]

Get the facts straight before you publish...

WOL Ministries is not out of California, they are active and in good standing in Nevada.
The word ministries is a dead giveaway too...
They are not require4d to file a 990 as a religious Organization.
See IRS form i1023, page 1, lower right hand corner of the page.
Also see the Bill of Rights, 1st amendment.

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Thanks for your assistance. All input is appreciated!

Information is obtained from direct contacts with the organizations, and company details provided by the same. Perhaps the employee was not having a great day- as stated in the description he was very helpful and forthright with information, but it seems very strange that he wouldn't know what state he was in! Perhaps he was just in a state of religious nirvana and the physical realm didn't seem as relevant at the time!

With the recent problems facing the FVA, are you aware if the "ministry" has begun to redirect potential donors elsewhere- or are all donation requests still forwarded to Florida?

Thanks again for your willingness to share information!

[mlsmn Member Find all posts View Profile Close mlsmn]

I used the organization that JLB mentioned

Donations to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
Home

no problems
no $ out of pocket

[rikkis_playpen Diamond Club Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close rikkis_playpen]

Thanks!

I used the organization that JLB mentioned

Donations to Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge
Home

no problems
no $ out of pocket

Thank you for the input! Positive results are the best way to judge the effectiveness of any organization...

Can you share what the ownership was that you donated?