Donate an aircraft to a charity that knows aircraft
Our roots go back to 2005, and we take aircraft flying or not, anywhere in the world. We handle the title work, the FAA lien search and the ferry flight. On the first call you get a straight answer about which deduction path your aircraft is a candidate for.
Your aircraft keeps working after you are done with it
Giving Center is a nationwide 501(c)(3). What an aircraft brings in — through sale or through use — goes to people who need it in the year they need it.
Families in crisis
Rent and utilities, emergency shelter, transitional housing, and direct relief for a family that has run out of room to absorb one more bad month.
Veterans coming home
Adaptive and transitional housing, vocational training, tools for a trade, a deposit, a reliable vehicle — placed through veteran service organizations already doing the work.
Children, schools and shops
After-school and summer programs, camps, classroom equipment. Giving Center works with aviation schools and has donated to support aircraft mechanic training programs; where equipment can go to a school directly, it does.
What we take
Nine classes, each with its own paperwork and its own way of getting to us. Pick the closest one — if it is between two, the first call sorts it out.
The flight plan
Four legs. Most donations run four to eight weeks from the first call, longer if there is a lien or a foreign registration.
Preflight
One call. Type, N-number, TTAF, SMOH, last annual, logs, damage history, where it sits. We tell you whether it is a candidate for sale or for retained use, and what the deduction depends on either way.
Paperwork
Title search through the FAA registry in Oklahoma City, AC 8050-2 bill of sale and 8050-1 registration prepared for signature, liens cleared or released. We pay the search and the filing.
Ferry
Airworthy aircraft are flown out. Out of annual or AOG, we arrange a ferry permit through the FSDO or we truck it. Disassembly, rigging and insurance are ours, not yours.
Receipt
A written acknowledgement at transfer, then Form 1098-C — within 30 days of sale if the aircraft is sold, or with the intervening-use certification if it is retained.
What you can deduct depends on what we do with it
Above $500, the rules turn on the charity's use of the aircraft, not on what it is worth. Four situations cover almost every donation.
| Situation | Deduction basis | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Sold by the charity | Gross proceeds of the sale | Form 1098-C within 30 days of sale |
| Retained by the charity for at least 36 months | Qualified appraised value (significant intervening use) | 1098-C with the intervening-use certification |
| Business-owned, depreciated | Limited to adjusted basis; recapture rules apply | Confirm with your CPA before assuming a number |
| Claimed above $5,000 | As above | Qualified appraisal dated within 60 days before the donation; Form 8283 Section B signed by the appraiser and the charity |
Some aircraft are retained for a minimum of 36 months under agreements Giving Center arranges case by case. You are told before you sign which path your aircraft is a candidate for. The full tax page covers AGI limits, the five-year carryforward and IRS Publications 526, 561 and 4303.
Who you will be dealing with
The intake team handles every donation from the first call until the aircraft is secured. They process aircraft donations regularly and know the paperwork — what the registry will accept, what a FSDO needs for a ferry permit, what a title company will want to see on an estate transfer.
Once a donation is committed, the ferry flight is handled by a dedicated pilot who works exclusively with Giving Center, is on call at any time, and has personally flown the majority of the aircraft Giving Center has received. Additional pilots are available when schedules or type ratings require them.
Donating this year
A donation counts for the year in which title transfers and the aircraft is delivered or released to the charity. Lien searches, registry filings and ferry scheduling all take time, and weather takes more of it in December. If you intend to claim this year, start well before the holidays. Year-end aircraft donation →
Tell us what you have
Type, hours, logs and where it sits. That is enough for a real answer on the first call.