Have you ever felt like you wanted to help an organization or cause, but just couldn’t bring yourself to pay your hard-earned money and take such a loss yourself? Or perhaps you have some property that you want to get off your hands, as fast as possible, but you’re having trouble getting your money’s worth in this buyer’s market? Well, there’s a win-win solution to this problem. You can give your real estate to charity or maybe an art program or college fund of your choice.

Whoa, wait a minute, that doesn’t sound like a good idea. Why should you make a real estate donation– donate property at all? It’s simple, really. You win, they win. While the charities receive the funding they need in these hard times, several factors mean you actually benefit from the whole deal as well.

First of all is the question of speed. I mean, if you want to get that real estate off your hands fast, then good luck with that in this buyer’s market. There are more houses than buyers, so unless you have something extraordinary to offer (and we all know the only extraordinary thing buyers want to see is an incredibly low price), your property is going to be on the market for a very long time. And even if you do put it up for a lower price than you’re willing to sell it for, it’s still going to be on the market for a very long time.

What’s the solution to this snail-paced market? You can donate real estate with causes in mind. It works much faster than any other way. It’s taken off the market immediately.

But, you ask, what about the cost? I’m still not so interested in just giving away something so valuable.

Two words: tax deduction. Hello? With the market the way it is, the current market value is far lower than the actual value of your property. But the tax deduction is made for the appraised value of your home, not the market value. In other words, making a property donation can be can give you a considerably larger tax offset than what you think.

Do I include property taxes and cost of upkeep?

And it’s not just limited to normal property donations or real estate donations, either. There are many possibilities. You can donate your car, your commercial property, just about anything for a sizeable tax deduction and a good feeling knowing someone else has gotten what they need, whether it be a new home, or anything else.