With approximately 90% of U.S. wealth held in non-cash assets, Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS) is expanding its expertise to help nonprofits tap into one of philanthropy’s largest opportunities.

CARS today announced that veteran nonprofit development executive Sean Coveleski will join the organization as Chief Strategy Officer, where he will initially focus on expanding CARS’ rapidly growing real estate donation program and strengthening relationships with nonprofits, financial institutions, philanthropic advisors and other organizations navigating complex charitable giving.

Coveleski joins CARS from Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), where he has served as Senior Vice President of Development since 2022, leading development programs and creating partnerships designed to generate funding and awareness for the organization’s mission. His previous leadership roles include Chief Development Officer and Vice President at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and senior development positions with Shriners Children’s.

His appointment comes as charitable giving, and personal wealth are both undergoing significant shifts. Charitable giving in the United States reached $617.2 billion in 2025, while an estimated $300 billion in annual non-cash asset giving potential remains largely untapped. Organizations that accept non-cash assets have also been shown to experience fundraising growth five times faster than organizations relying primarily on cash gifts, according to data from Giving USA and Giving IQ.

“The next great opportunity in philanthropy may not be finding another donor. It may be helping existing donors give from the assets they already own,” said Howard Pearl, CEO of CARS. “Sean understands that opportunity from the nonprofit side, the donor side and the development side. Bringing his experience to CARS strengthens our ability to help nonprofit organizations turn complicated asset structures into meaningful funding for their missions.”

CARS has spent more than two decades helping nonprofits generate revenue through vehicle donations, returning more than $650 million to nonprofit organizations since 2003. Building on that experience, CARS has expanded its expertise into other forms of non-cash giving, including real estate.

Its real estate donation program, launched in 2021, has already returned more than $12 million to nonprofits, helping organizations accept proceeds from residential properties, commercial real estate, farms and ranches, and land donations. CARS can also work with complex and under-threshold properties, including certain properties with liens or mortgages, while managing the transaction and helping shield nonprofit partners from ownership liability.

Coveleski has a unique history with that program.

While serving at Shriners Children’s, he worked with CARS on the nonprofit side to help develop a real estate giving model that allowed organizations to access property donations without building costly internal infrastructure to evaluate, manage and liquidate assets.

Now, he will help take that concept further.

“I’ve spent my career thinking about how nonprofits can raise more money without simply spending more money to do it,” said Coveleski. “Real estate and other non-cash assets represent an extraordinary opportunity because so much donor wealth exists outside of cash. CARS has built the infrastructure to make these gifts easier for nonprofits to accept and easier for donors to give. I’m excited to help more organizations understand what is possible.”

CARS’ real estate program operates as an extension of a nonprofit’s existing development team, providing expertise and capacity without requiring organizations to create new internal processes. CARS manages property review, due diligence, gift structuring, sale and distribution of proceeds, allowing nonprofit partners to remain beneficiaries rather than becoming responsible for managing donated property.

The organization is also expanding awareness of real estate giving among donors and the professionals who advise them through financial conferences, advisor engagement, donor education, and targeted marketing.

For Coveleski, that creates another opportunity: helping connect the nonprofit, financial and philanthropic communities as one of the largest intergenerational transfers of wealth in U.S. history unfolds.

“We’ve quietly helped some of the country’s most recognized nonprofit organizations turn assets into hundreds of millions of dollars for their missions,” Pearl said. “Our goal now is to make sure nonprofits are prepared for where philanthropy is going next. Sean is going to play an important role in helping us get there.”

Coveleski will begin his new role on September 8, 2026, and will remain based on the East Coast.

About Sean Coveleski

Sean Coveleski is a veteran nonprofit development executive with extensive experience in fundraising strategy, major and planned giving, corporate engagement and philanthropic partnerships. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President of Development for Stand Up To Cancer. Previously, he was Chief Development Officer and Vice President at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and held senior development roles with Shriners Children’s. Coveleski earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications and Leadership Studies from West Virginia University and a Juris Doctor from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

About CARS

Charitable Adult Rides & Services (CARS) helps nonprofits do more, reach further and serve communities in new ways through innovative non-cash donation programs. CARS currently has active contracts with more than 10,000 nonprofit organizations nationwide and provides vehicle, real estate, stock donations and other fundraising services. Since 2003, CARS has returned more than $650 million to nonprofits through vehicle donations. Its real estate program has returned more than $12 million to nonprofit organizations since launch in 2021. CARS manages the complexities associated with donated assets, so nonprofit partners can focus on what matters most: advancing their missions.

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