My Interview With Brian Menzies CEO Of Charity Cars Inc.

I decided due to all the lingering questions and concerns to contact Mr. Brian Menzies himself today and ask him to allow me to interview him. He did not hesitate to allow me to do so and has addressed the concerns for the whole community.

 

My Interview With Brian Menzies CEO Of Charity Cars Inc.

 

 

Tell us a little about yourself as the man behind this charity. 

I am a very spiritual person who meditates and eats primarily raw foods. I have been blessed in life and I truly believe "To whom much is given...much is required."

What was the primary reason you decided to start Free Charity Cars? 

I had a very very successful business but I wasn't happy. I wanted to utilize whatever talents I was blessed with to help others.

How long has Free Charity Cars been in operation? 

Established in 1996

Since that time approximately how many cars have been awarded to applicants as the counter on your site stays at 4000 but your site also states over 4000 have been awarded? 

We are moving closer to 5000 but we don't change the counter. (Everything the programmers do costs $ ) We do in fact lead the nation in providing free cars.

Out of all the cars that have been donated what percentage are actually in good enough condition to be awarded to your applicants?  

We are lucky if 5-10% are nice enough to award members. 1/3 of all the cars donated go directly to the salvage yards.

Do you have specific criteria that a donated vehicle must meet in order to be utilized as a program vehicle (I.e. year, mileage, condition, etc.)?  

yes, but it is VERY VERY detailed. Short answer: They must be running, in good condition and have enough value to be worth expending funds to repair them..

When a car is donated and needs to be refurbished are the services donated or are donated funds used to pay to refurbish them?  

Both, but usually we pay.

How many Giveaway events have you hosted? 

2 or 3 dozen or so. We initially thought that the auto dealers would jump at the opportunity to partner with us but thus far it has been a struggle to get meaningful involvement from the auto industry.

Have you hosted a giveaway in every State?

no

When you  have a giveaway event how many cars do you have available to give away?  

Anywhere from 1 to 101 in one day at one event!

How do you choose who receives the car(s) at a giveaway event from the applicants who show up and sign in? 

Only a small number of the cars are awarded at giveaway events with the vast majority being awarded privately.The same system of choosing applies for both the events and privately awarded vehicles. Read FAQ page for the details.

Why do you have a car inventory when  you have so many applicants  in need of a vehicle? Why are those cars not being given to your applicants?  

Those are pics of cars we had in inventory when we launched the site. We do not update that page. We give away the vehicles as we receive them.

Your site says you offer not only vehicles, but  financial assistance for just about anything automotive related. What protocol is used to separate those in need of an actual vehicle to those who need automotive related assistance?  

The members state their need in their profile story. Just like ALL other charities-sometimes we can help, sometimes we can't.

If there is no protocol used and they are just all pooled together in one queue wouldn’t it be more efficient to separate the two into two entirely separate waiting lists for assistance as their need is completely different and those who need automotive assistance are not waiting on a vehicle to be donated? 

Possibly but at this time our resources are limited and our focus must remain on giving away cars. As we grow and attain more industry parthers we hopefully will be in a position to help more people.

How many people have received automotive related assistance from Free Charity Cars? 

Many hundreds through the years.

Also you state that  an applicant must complete your application, qualify and have made the effort to help themselves and others by spreading the word about FREE Charity Cars to be eligible for assistance. Exactly how does your Staff verify an applicants qualifications  or efforts made to promote your site?  

Votes is the primary method. Simply voting for others helps.

What consideration do you give to members who do not have the computer literacy, good health, etc. to be able to promote, make videos etc.? Does it in fact harm their chances of being selected to receive a vehicle?  

Unfortunately we have developed a system that works for our org and those persons are at a disadvantage, yes. We would applaud anyone who could establish a car-donation non-profit to specifically help those members. Unfortuantely we have our hands full with pure current system.

When a person is chosen to receive a vehicle what is the process they must go through to actually get the vehicle? 

They fill out and sign some paperwork that we mail to them-then we title it in their name and mail them the title. They get the car insured and registered and they pick up their free car.

If an applicant is chosen to receive a vehicle and they can not afford to pay for the tag, title, insurance etc does Free Charity Cars assist them? 

We have, in the past, helped many hundreds, possibly thousands of members with those fees.  Unfortunately with the difficult economy it is impossible to help many members with those fees.

When an applicant is contacted and informed that they were chosen to receive a vehicle how much time do they have to respond to you if they miss your call?  

Usually 24 hrs-sometimes longer. We are under a lot of pressure from the repair shops to get the vehicles off their lots as they are strapped for space. Time is of the essence. One of the reasons that we established the FCC website was to have a way of identifying recipients quickly.

Also how much time do they have to pick up the vehicle before they forfeit their right to claim it and it is given to another applicant? 

ASAP! We stress that once they receive their title they must get the vehicle ASAP!

After receiving a vehicle from Free Charity Cars do you keep the recipient under some sort of Case Management to ensure they keep the vehicle insured, do not sell it, etc.?

In Florida we hold a lien for one year but we leave case management up to the referring agency if their is one. We used to be involved in a lot more hands-on case management but today would have to expend a lot of our budget on staff for that purpose and we believe it is better spent on awarding cars.

Your site states “After a modest level of votes is attained you will be eligible to receive gifts, automotive related help, or even a Free Charity Car”  We all know that modest level of votes is 100 votes, but should it not be made clearer that it takes many more votes to receive anything as many members seem to fail to understand that 100 votes does not mean they will get what they need as they will not even be reviewed at that level. 

We thought we had made the program VERY clear, but it seems people hear what they want to hear. We have learned a lot this initial year and our new website will hopefully be crystal clear. We had no idea how faithfully members would vote!

We all know you do state higher page rank means we are more likely to be reviewed but exactly how high of a page rank is needed to be reviewed? In the top 10, 20 etc of their respective State? We can't divulge all our secrets Michelle! :)

When you say eligible to receive gifts, what type of ‘gifts” have you or do you give to applicants? Our gifts are obviously free vehicles, repairs, tag/title fees, insurance down-payments and as we grow we hope to partner with many diverse  businesses who will donate to our members.

Have you ever considered having local or state chapters to represent Charity Cars nationwide so that each respective State would have someone advocating for donations, working on giveaway events etc.. for them? Or giving applicants whom receive a car the opportunity to be a representative for their city or state?  

Yes, individuals but not chapters as we have attempted that in the past and it was a complete failure.

With so many States not receiving vehicles what does Charity Cars intend to do to compensate for that to make sure that a car is awarded in every State equally?  

We advertise for cars equally in every State. Obviously the States with larger populations will donate more cars. All we can do is advertise and get the word out with our members help. We cannot control donations.

Why hasn’t Free Charity Cars registered with the BBB? 

We believe the BBB does more harm than good. They present themselves as watchdogs for the public good but many of the 3rd party for-profit car-donation fundraising companies have paid the BBB fee and are members in good standing. The BBB is only interested in their fee-not scrutinizing any businesses. Anyone can join. BTW, The Better Business Bureau is not a government agency at ALL, but as their name suggests...they want the public to believe they are.

The site states that Free Charity Cars is 100% charity what exactly does that mean?  

Almost all of the other car-donation programs you see on the Internet, see on TV, hear on the radio, read in the newspaper, see on billboards, are 3rd party for-profit fundraiser car dealers who administer the car-donation program for one or hundreds of charities. According to a GAO, (goverment) study nationally, when a 3rd party is involved with the car-donation process only about 35% of the revenue ever reaches the charity. We are one of the few charities that handles the process ourselves so 100% of the revenue goes to our charity.

Is it in fact true that there is a list of applicants whom have been “blacklisted” that are allowed to remain on the site but will in fact never receive a vehicle? 

lol  No...the rumor mill goes on & on & on....

Is it true that members whom question the Charity have had or will have their profiles deleted? Rude and/or negative members have been deleted. There is nothing wrong with questions as long as they asked with manners.

Why are members not allowed to call the office or email unless absolute necessary? 

Our staff would be inudated with calls which would cause us to lose donations and we would be unable to help our members.

I know you have launched a new marketing campaign for Free Charity Cars, can you tell us what all it entails? Will there be any plans for Free Charity Cars to have TV commercials, ads in major newspapers or billboards in major cities?  

We are still developing it. I will say that in the past we have done national TV, radio, and all the major newspapers, but after all is said and done, the Internet is the most targeted. Next year we are thinking about having a superbowl ad campaign fund. That would be a dream come true.

We all know that there will be a new website launching in November what will be the most significant change that we can expect to see from the new website? 

IT will work correctly and it will be be fast, fast. fast!!! lol ! :)


What do you have to say to members whom are questioning the ethics of Free Charity Cars? 

We are doing the best that we can. I myself work 7 days a week. Members are free to leave the site whenever they wish and to establish their own car-donation /distribution charity if they feel that they can do a better job. I'd be happy to go meditate in the mountains of North Carolina. :)

Is it true that Free Charity Cars is under investigation in some areas? If this is true what is your position on the allegations being made against Free Charity Cars?

Totally untrue. Our organization underwent a very thorough 6 month IRS field audit a few years ago and the 2 IRS Auditors, with over 45 years of combined experience, stated "It is refreshing to audit a charity that does such wonderful work". We had 0 problems at all. :)

What is your explanation/advice to the applicants whom have met the criteria, are in genuine need and have promoted the charity yet have been waiting for many months to over a year for a vehicle or automotive related assistance? 

We are at the mercy of the donating public...keep the fath...

In closing what are your current goals for Free Charity Cars for the next year? 

To award more & more & more & more free cars! That's what we do...:)

 

 

A Special Thank you to Mr. Brian Menzies for taking the time to let me interview him today. 

I hope that this will help ease the minds of the members and answer some of the questions so many have.

Blessings To All

~milodeke~