Type “donate boat” into Google and the first page is a wall of aggregators. They are all legitimate 501(c)(3) operations. They serve a useful function for the broad boat-donation market. They are not the right home for a serious yacht.
Aggregators run on volume. A vessel comes in, title transfers, the boat goes to a wholesale auction or fixed-price liquidator, and the proceeds go to the named cause. The donor receives a fair-market-value deduction only if the vessel sells for at least a defined threshold and the charity certifies one of the qualifying conditions. Otherwise — and this is the standard outcome — the deduction is capped at gross sale proceeds under Internal Revenue Code §170(f)(12).
SeaKeepers runs an operating model. Vessels are evaluated against the program's research and operational requirements. Those that fit are placed into research-fleet use or leased through a three-year bareboat arrangement to a qualified operator. Vessels that do not fit are accepted only when the owner accepts a sale-route donation, with the gross-proceeds rule clearly disclosed in advance.
The language that protects the fair-market-value deduction is “significant intervening use” under §170(f)(12)(F). The IRS interprets this to mean the charity uses the vessel for its charitable purpose in a way that is significant, not incidental, before disposition. SeaKeepers' research-fleet program — placing vessels with scientists for oceanographic data collection, educational programming, and dive missions — qualifies. A three-year bareboat lease to a qualified operator, used in active charter that supports the SeaKeepers program, qualifies.
Most aggregator donations do not qualify, because the aggregator's purpose is liquidation, not use. The donor's deduction is therefore the gross proceeds at auction, which on a vessel that retailed at $1.8M might land at $500,000 to $700,000.
A 22-metre motor yacht, current class, well-maintained, with a $1.6M brochure ask.
The arithmetic is not subtle. For a vessel that fits the SeaKeepers profile, the difference in deduction value is material. For a vessel that does not fit — and we will tell you directly — the aggregator model may be the honest answer.
Yachtdonations.org is a long-running program operated by AMIkids, a youth-development charity. It is a real program with a real purpose. It runs primarily on a leased-asset model. We are not affiliated with that program. The reason we exist as a distinct facilitator is the maritime-research mission of SeaKeepers and the global vessel-use network that supports it.
No call center, no junior staff. You speak with the founder — 25+ years inside the industry, $500M+ in lifetime brokerage transactions.