Donating Vessels to The Friends of The Boat School

Vessels are the heart and soul of The Boat School. They are used by students to learn, and they can be successful fundraisers to support The Friends of The Boat School and the John P. Grady Endowment Fund. Due to space and resource limitations, the acceptance of vessels has to be at the discretion of the Friends of The Boat School Board of Directors. Please review Donation Criteria carefully.

The Friends of The Boat School is a fully qualified 501c3 non-profit and as such may accept charitable contributions of vessels to use in support of educational programs at The Boat School or sell outright to generate funds for scholarships. These donations are tax deductible subject to certain rules.

Tax ID# 11-3765279
The Friends of The Boat School
PO Box 105
Eastport, ME 04631

Under the new tax rules, included in the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, tax payer deductions for vessel donations are limited to the gross proceeds of the sale of the vessel.

However, if The Boat School significantly uses or materially improves the vessel, generally, the donor may deduct the fair market value, as determined by appraisal or survey, at the time of donation.

Donation Criteria

Repair and Restoration

Your old boat is of great value to learning students. Whether  your donated boat needs minor cosmetics or major surgery, the process of bringing it back to new will allow students to understand hands on what boat repair is all about. Your donation is the very best kind of gift: it contributes to the education and growth of students through both hands-on experience and then through the use of the sale proceeds to benefit those students once again.

Vessels donated for use in this program should be:

  • In reasonable condition overall but in need of some structural repair
  • Mechanically complete
  • Cosmetically intact

Fundraising

All proceeds of a vessel sale will go to the Scholarship Fund to help with the educational needs of students at The Boat School. Vessels donated for use in this program should be:

  • Any material, any size
  • Ready to sell or in need of minor cleaning or repair

What else do I need to know?

How The Donation Process Works:

The Boat Donation process

The following steps identify our requirements for proceeding with a boat donation.

Gather pertinent information about your boat

  • Boat make/model
  • Builder name
  • Basic dimensions (length, beam, draft, displacement)
  • Construction material
  • Year built
  • Mechanical details
  • Engine type, size

If it's a sailboat also include:

  • Rig type
  • Standing rigging type and condition
  • Running type and condition
  • Sail inventory and condition

Contact the Friends of The Boat School

Email your donation information to Dean Pike at mimincprexar.com . Please be sure to include your name, location and details on how we can reach you.

Visual inspection

We will determine if your boat is a candidate for donation and if so schedule an appointment to do a visual inspection.

If the visual inspection confirms that the donation fits the needs of the school then the fair market value must be established.

  • For donations under $5000 this can be done using comparable items.
  • For donations valued over $5000 a survey by a licensed Marine Surveyor (at the donor’s expense) is required. Acceptance of the donation is contingent on the outcome of the survey.

IRS tax requirements

The accepted donation must be accompanied by IRS Form 8283 (Noncash Charitable Contributions)  IRS Form 8283 which is signed by the Donor, Surveyor and a Friend of The Boat School representative.

You can find out more information by following this link made available through the IRS: IRS website.

Your tax deduction

  • If we have determined that your donation will be sold with no use or improvement you will be allowed to deduct the actual gross sales amount in the tax year of the sale.
  • If we determine that your donation will be used in a school program or materially improved you will be allowed to deduct the fair market value in the year of the donation.

We urge all prospective donors to consult with their tax advisors before making any donation that they plan to take as a charitable contribution. The official name as listed with the IRS is The Friends of The Boat School.