Beware of new rules for donating your car -- Newsday.com

Beware of new rules for donating your car -- Newsday.com:

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"Michael Nilsen, spokesman for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, said that though his group has not done a study, some of the 27,000 members who raise money for nonprofits in North America have told him of significant declines in car donation revenues. 'This doesn't affect a ton of organizations,' Nilsen said, 'but for those that depend on car donations, this clearly has had an effect.'

Rusty Burwell, an assistant vice president of the Manhattan-based American Lung Association, estimated that the number of cars donated nationwide to his organization fell by 25 percent to 30 percent in 2005 compared to 2004, but he did not know if revenues in that category also had dropped. Melissa Sloma, who oversees car donations for the group in New York and about 20 other states, said such gifts decreased by about 50 percent on Long Island and in New York City, even as revenues derived from their sale increased modestly in both areas. One reason: Cars accepted had to be better quality, she said, as a result of annual changes in the group's criteria."