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Cars for Charity Inc at a glance

· Public charity

Cars for Charity Inc

The purpose of cars for charity is to act as the enabling entity for hundreds of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations, located within the united states, to undertake and benefit from a "vehicle donation" fundraising program.

$4.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
132
Grants FY2024still arriving
41
States reached
$569k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0199% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$11MEducation$2.9MHuman Services$541kAnimals$336kInternational$253kHealth$174kReligion$94kPhilanthropy$90kOther$0
02FY2024 · 132 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k51 grants · $379k
  • $10k–50k65 grants · $1.6M
  • $50k–250k13 grants · $1.2M
  • $250k+3 grants · $1.2M
$14,270
Median grant
41
States reached
$738k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO$569,494
MISC SMALL GRANTS 5000$379,554
WAMU$291,184
KQED$186,750
WSHU PUBLIC RADIO$166,733
NEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO$144,352
WDET$127,691
KUOW$103,702
CHICAGO PUBLIC RADIO$81,249
KCLU$76,668
CONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING - W$71,427
SAMARITAN'S PURSE$67,527
COLORADO PUBLIC RADIO$61,165
VPM$55,513
MAINE PUBLIC$55,438
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–23, $402k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 94% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CHARITABLE ADULT RIDES AND SERVICES: $6k → 11%TIDEWELL HOSPICE: $195 → 9%WOUNDED WARRIOR PROJECT: $7k → 14%HOPELINK: $9k → 9%NUTLEY FAMILY SERVICE BUREAU INC: $6k → 16%KGOU RADIO: $7k → 13%DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESOURCE: $414 → 7%SAMARITAN HOUSE CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $92k → 12%MOTHER WADDLES COMMUNITY OUTREACH: $1k → 8%CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $62k → 12%CATHOLIC CHARITIES & COMMUNITY SERV: $43k → 12%YMCA: $3k → 14%ARTIST HELPING THE HOMELESS: $7k → 15%CATHOLIC CHARITIES & COMMUNITY SERV: $7k → 12%CITYSQUARE: $5k → 14%SISTER CARMEN COMMUNITY CENTER: $130 → 12%SAMARITAN HOUSE CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $4k → 12%ATTENTION INC: $60k → 12%FREEDON SERVICE DOGS: $9k → 8%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE: $19k → 12%FREEDOM SERVICES DOGS: $3k → 8%ATTENTION INC: $6k → 12%EMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSN: $6k → 12%DENVER HOSPICE: $105 → 12%ATTENTION INC: $1k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES OF COLORADO: $14k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF COLORADO: $10k → 12%CATHOLIC CHARITIES: $5k → 12%JEWISH FAMILY SERVICES: $9k → 12%RAY OF HOPE CANCER FOUNDATION: $60 → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

89%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$15M · 138 repeat orgs$1.8M to everyone else

138 repeat relationships: 92 still active in FY2024, 46 since wound down; 31 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

138
139

Total granted

$15M
$1.0M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+18%
+27%

Still filing today

72%
69%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $705k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationHuman ServicesAnimalsHealthPhilanthropyOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • MP
    MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA
    6× · 2019–2024 · $2.3M · revenue +2%
  • CP
    CHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC
    6× · 2019–2024 · $953k · revenue +6%
  • SH
    SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED
    5× · 2020–2024 · $775k · revenue +52%

Funded once

  • W
    WAMU
    one grant, 2021 · $103k
  • MR
    MICHIGAN RADIO
    one grant, 2022 · $59k
  • PM
    PUBLIC MEDIA NJ INC
    one grant, 2022 · $39k · revenue -1%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Npr Foundation

The npr foundation ("foundation") is organized and operated exclusively for the benefit of its sole supported organization, national public radio, inc. ("npr inc."). the foundation supports npr inc. through various activities such as…

—
2
Vermont Public Co

Vermont public informs, educates, and entertains through public service journalism and enlightening content rooted in vermont. our storytelling enriches lives and fosters community connection and understanding.

Arts & Culture
3
Npr International Operations Inc

Npr international operations, inc. ("nprio") supports the international newsgathering activities of national public radio, inc. through bureaus and offices established locally in foreign countries.

—
4
Public Radio International Inc

To serve audiences as a distinctive content source for information, insights and cultural experiences essential to living in our diverse, interconnected world.

Arts & Culture
5
Friends of Kexp

Kexp's mission is to enrich your life by championing music and discovery.

Youth Development
6
Wnet

Wnet is a multi-media public service non-profit that delivers lifelong learning and meaningful experiences to our communities. our content inspires curiosity, encourages action and nurtures dreams.

Arts & Culture
7
American Public Media Group

To perform activities that provide economies of scale and coordination of related companies in a manner that best accomplishes the exempt purposes of its supported 501(c)(3) organizations minnesota public radio (mpr) and southern…

Arts & Culture
8
Furman University

The primary mission of furman as a liberal arts institution is to provide a distinctive education in fine arts, humanities, social sciences, mathematics and the sciences, as well as selected professional disciplines.

Education
9
Hawaii Public Radio

The mission of hawai'i public radio is to serve the people of hawai'i by informing with essential news, inspiring through the power of music and the arts, and connecting through conversations and convenings.

—
10
National Association of Broadcasters

National association of broadcasters (nab) advances the interest of radio and television broadcasters in federal government, industry and public affairs; improves the quality of broadcasting, and encourages technological innovation and…

—
11
National Cable Satellite Corporation

Provide the public access to the live gavel-to-gavel proceedings of both houses of the us congress, and other forums where public policy is discussed, debated, and decided - all without editing, commentary or analysis and with a balanced…

Arts & Culture
12
The California Channel

To distribute public affairs and other educational information in order to create an electronic bridge between californians and their public officials, and, in the process educate a new generation of voting citizens and civic leaders who…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is South Florida Public Media Group Inc; the most unlike its peers is Wake Forest University. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

219 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 219 of the 313 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
40
Early backer (in before they grew)
211/219
Grantees still filing
162/219
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $2,296,710 · Arts & CultureMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIACHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $952,856 · Arts & CultureCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INCNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $508,132 · Arts & CultureNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIOKQED INC: $466,417 · Arts & CultureKQED INC+50 more: $4,098,850 · Arts & Culture+50 moreWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY: $490,625 · OtherWAYNE STATE UNIVERSITYMISC SMALL GRANTS 5000: $379,554 · OtherMISC SMALL GRANTS 5000KCRW FOUNDATION INC: $136,375 · Other+92 more: $2,766,378 · Other+92 moreSACRED HEART UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED: $774,512 · EducationSACRED HEART UNIVERS…AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $757,913 · EducationAMERICAN UNIVERSITYCALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY: $365,671 · EducationCALIFORNIA LUTHERAN …VIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $160,548 · EducationVIRGINIA TECH FOUNDA…APT Foundation: $127,602 · EducationTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC: $105,028 · Education+23 more: $645,136 · Education+23 moreCATHOLIC CHARITIES & COMMUNITY SERV OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER: $208,757 · Human ServicesATTENTION INC: $67,174 · Human ServicesJEWISH FAMILY SERVICE OF COLORADO INC: $32,290 · Human ServicesEMERGENCY FAMILY ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATION: $25,398 · Human ServicesCHARITABLE ADULT RIDES & SERVICES: $12,566 · Human Services+3 more: $30,462 · Human ServicesOTHERS FIRST INC: $125,285 · PhilanthropyCANDID: $63,061 · PhilanthropyTHE SUMMIT FOUNDATION: $59,350 · PhilanthropyBLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER: $22,033 · Philanthropy+1 more: $8,690 · PhilanthropyTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $92,590 · AnimalsANIMAL RESCUE INC: $41,578 · AnimalsTHE HUMANE SOCIETY OF BOULDER VALLEY INC: $36,273 · AnimalsPets In Need: $28,267 · AnimalsFriends of Foothills Animal Shelter: $20,334 · AnimalsLONGMONT HUMANE SOCIETY INC: $18,724 · AnimalsANIMAL LEGAL DEFENSE FUND INC: $15,156 · AnimalsPARK COUNTY LIVESTOCK COMMITTEE INC: $9,936 · AnimalsSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $212,297 · Religion
Arts & Culture$8,322,965Other$3,772,932Education$2,936,410Human Services$376,647Philanthropy$278,419Animals$262,858Religion$212,297

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetMINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO AMERICAN PUBLIC MEDIA: $2,296,710 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetCHICAGO PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $952,856 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetSACRED HEART UNIVERSITY INCORPORATED: $774,512 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetAMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $757,913 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetNEW YORK PUBLIC RADIO: $508,132 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetKQED INC: $466,417 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetCALIFORNIA LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY: $365,671 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetKUOW PUGET SOUND PUBLIC RADIO: $276,197 over 4y, 0.5% of budgetCONNECTICUT PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $232,365 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetBALTIMORE PUBLIC MEDIA CORPORATION: $223,419 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetSAMARITAN'S PURSE: $212,297 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCATHOLIC CHARITIES & COMMUNITY SERV OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DENVER: $208,757 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetPUBLIC BROADCASTING OF COLORADO INC: $195,098 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetNEW HAMPSHIRE PUBLIC RADIO INC: $188,166 over 6y, 1.0% of budgetMaine Public Broadcasting Corporation: $180,861 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetAlabama Education Television Foundation Authority: $161,623 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetVIRGINIA TECH FOUNDATION INC: $160,548 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY RADIO FOUNDATION INC: $158,768 over 6y, 0.5% of budgetSOUTHERN CALIFORNIA PUBLIC RADIO: $148,686 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetWGBH Educational Foundation: $141,934 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetKCRW FOUNDATION INC: $136,375 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCAPITAL PUBLIC RADIO FDBA KXPR/KXJZ INC: $133,558 over 4y, 0.4% of budgetAPT Foundation: $127,602 over 2y, 2.5% of budgetOTHERS FIRST INC: $125,285 over 2y, 1.6% of budgetVPM MEDIA CORPORATION: $117,852 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetWHYY INC: $109,346 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FOUNDATION INC: $105,028 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetRHODE ISLAND PUBLIC RADIO: $101,524 over 3y, 1.3% of budgetETV Endowment of South Carolina Inc: $100,958 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetWISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION INC: $92,717 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetNORTH TEXAS PUBLIC BROADCASTING INC: $92,672 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetTHE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS: $92,590 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetHouston Public Media Foundation: $89,647 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY RADIO FOR NORTHERN COLORADO: $89,212 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $87,062 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetTEXAS PUBLIC RADIO: $85,230 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetSAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $83,936 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetWAMC: $83,802 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetFRIENDS OF KWMU INC: $83,407 over 4y, 73% of budgetWASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $81,043 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetMIAMI VALLEY PUBLIC MEDIA INC: $80,189 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetSOUTH FLORIDA PUBLIC MEDIA GROUP INC: $72,848 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetNORTHEAST INDIANA PUBLIC RADIO INC: $72,485 over 5y, 1.8% of budgetPACIFIC PUBLIC MEDIA: $68,365 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetIDEASTREAM: $67,509 over 4y, 0.1% of budgetATTENTION INC: $67,174 over 3y, 2.2% of budgetCANDID: $63,061 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUniversity of South Florida Foundation Inc: $62,048 over 3y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Corporation for Publi…Colorado Gives Founda…National Public Radio…The Groundtruth Proje…Ibm International Fou…The Denver FoundationGreater Washington Ed…Xcel Energy FoundationPublic Broadcasting S…Rose Community Founda…The Janus Henderson F…The Colorado Health F…
Corporation for Public BroadcastingDC100.2× affinity55 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Corporation for Public Broadcasting · Colorado Gives Foundation · National Public Radio Inc · The Groundtruth Project Inc · Ibm International Foundation · The Denver Foundation · Greater Washington Educational Telecommunications Association Inc · Xcel Energy Foundation · Public Broadcasting Service · Rose Community Foundation · The Janus Henderson Foundation · The Colorado Health Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Cars for Charity Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Cars for Charity Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 60%5%19%42%75%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 3%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Delaware Public Media Corporation: 11% of income from government
  • The University of Tulsa: 5% of income from government
  • Connecticut Public Broadcasting Inc: 3% of income from government
  • Catholic Charities Diocese of Metuchen: 3% of income from government
  • Sacred Heart University Incorporated: 1% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Oregon Public Broadcasting: 1% of income from government
  • New England Public Media Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Wounded Warrior Project Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
6get no government money at all
44report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Cars for Charity Inc?

Find your warmest path to Cars for Charity Inc through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 313 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Cars for Charity’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home