How Special License Plates Can Be a Revenue Stream for Nonprofits

For a small fee, you can add some personality to your ride while supporting a worthy cause.

Andy Stonehouse | 

Mar 15, 2023 | 3 min read

Aaron Miller | Capital One

While states have their own general-issue license plates, you can pay a little extra to get a design that celebrates a sports team, school, charity, branch of the military, state park, or other cause. These are specialty plates, and they can bring in a fair amount of money for their sponsoring organizations.

Who Approves Specialty Plates?

The approval process varies by state and sometimes by the type of entity seeking the plate. In most cases, however, nonprofits must petition their elected representatives to propose and vote on legislation that would add their plates to the roster of available designs. After that, the sponsoring group might need to cover the plate's production cost (as is the case in Arizona), or it might need to demonstrate sufficient public interest in the design by obtaining a certain number of presale vouchers (as in Florida).

The number of available designs depends on the state and changes yearly as new plates are approved and unpopular ones are discontinued. For instance, Texas currently has hundreds of designs, and Alaska has about 30.

How Much Do Charities Make From Specialty Plates?

Again, this depends on the state. In Arizona, $17 of every $25 specialty plate goes to the organization or its associated charities. For example, proceeds of the San Carlos Apache Tribe plate help the tribe's transportation board purchase traffic-control devices, while those from the Route 66 plate help pay for the preservation of the historic roadway. The state's specialty-plate program generates more than $10 million annually for local charities and organizations.

University plates perform particularly well. In 2018, Ohio State University — which offers Ohioans three plate options at a cost of $35 each, with $10 going to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and the rest to the school — collected nearly $600,000 in specialty-plate donations. This money goes into a general scholarship fund for university students.

How Do I Get a Specialty Plate?

Sometimes it's as simple as choosing a design from the state government website associated with vehicle registration and renewals — be it a department of motor vehicles or a secretary of state — and placing an order.

You might need to make a direct donation to a charity and upload documentation with your order. For example, in Colorado, hockey fans who want Avalanche specialty plates pay a one-time fee of $50 for the plates after making a $45 donation to the Kroenke Sports Charities, an organization that offers education, athletic programs, and financial aid to Coloradoans.

For other plates, you might have to prove your affiliation to the sponsoring organization to use its design. For instance, only firefighters and members of fire boards are eligible for the Montana State Fire Chiefs' Association plate.

Andy Stonehouse

Andy Stonehouse literally fell into the world of auto writing while working as a ski-town journalist, and has not looked back since. A childhood spent dealing with the eccentricities of a 1976 MG Midget has made any subsequent auto experience a more safe and reliable drive. He has been blessed with nearby mountain trails and snowy roads in Colorado to do TV-adventure-styled test drives on a weekly basis.