Gifts of appreciated stock: Say it, and say it again

Repeat, repeat, repeat. You may feel like you are constantly talking with your donors about the benefits of giving appreciated stock. Your talk track may go something like this:

• “Before you reach for your checkbook to make a gift to our endowment fund at Kitsap Community Foundation, consider giving highly-appreciated stock.”

• “Appreciated stock is frequently a far more advantageous gift to charity than giving cash.”

• “When you make a gift of shares held for more than one year, you’ll typically be eligible for a charitable deduction at the shares’ fair market value on the date of the gift.”

• “Plus, our endowment fund is a charity and therefore capital gains tax won’t be triggered on the sale of the shares, leaving the full fair market value available to grow our endowment and pave the way for the future success of our mission.”

• “By contrast, if you’d sold the shares yourself and given the proceeds to our endowment fund, you’d owe capital gains tax. This can be a big hit if you’ve held the shares for many years and they’ve got a low basis.”

• “Donors love supporting our endowment fund at Kitsap Community Foundation, and transferring stock is surprisingly easy with their helpful team by your side.”

You say all of this so much that you’re sick of it, so surely your donors are sick of hearing it too, right? Wrong. Your donors don’t live and breathe charitable giving like those of us who work in the nonprofit sector day in and day out. So, not only is the subject matter sometimes challenging, but it’s also likely that donors are not paying attention most of the time. Indeed, a lot of donors are missing out on the benefits of giving stock instead of cash.

Building your endowment fund, like any type of fundraising, is a long game. You have to keep repeating key messages so that the point finally gets across, often when the timing is just right and the topic of tax planning or charitable giving happens to be on a donor’s mind.

One last thought, since 85% of estate gifts come from outright bequests, one of the best things you can do is provide specific bequest language for your donors and volunteers at least twice a year. Often, annual reports and gift acknowledgement letters are a good place for that info. Sample bequest language is below…be sure to revise to make it work for your organization:

Sample Language for Bequests

I give, devise and bequeath to Kitsap Community Foundation (Tax ID # 94-3205217), a tax-exempt organization located at 9657 Levin Rd NW, Ste 220, Silverdale, WA, 98383, the sum of $                        (or)                          % of my estate (or the property described herein) to be used for                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               (You may specify a specific nonprofit, a cause such as homelessness, food security, arts, environment, human services, BIPOC organizations, education, support of emerging needs of local nonprofits through KCF's community grants process, etc.) Informing us of your intent helps us ensure your wishes are honored. Thank you for your love and support of our beloved community!

The team at Kitsap Community Foundation is always happy to serve as a sounding board for key messages and strategies to build your endowment, one person and one gift at a time, over and over–and over–again. We’re honored to work with you!