There was a local story where a guy donated a car to a charity and the charity sold/gave it to a needy person or whatever they do, but the recipient never titled it in the recipient's name and proceeded to get into a bad accident. To make a long story short, the donor got sued becuase the owner of the car can be held liable when that car gets into an accident.

This type of law may vary from state to state, but you should make sure the charity you donate it to takes title to the vehicle so you can limit your exposure to this type of situation. One company who takes title, at least the location on tv was the salvation army.