One easy way to give to the ministry of Village Bible Church is by gifting stock, which can have considerable tax-advantages, especially if you have realized capital gains on your original investment. You'll need to consult your tax adviser or investment adviser for advice specific to your financial situation, but here is a basic explanation of how it works.
By gifting stock, your potential tax savings makes it likely that you are able to give more to the church than if you sold your stock and then gave cash.
For illustration purposes only:
Let's say you purchased 100 shares of Microsoft stock five years ago at $40 per share. Your cost basis is $4,000. And let's say that today those 100 shares of stock are worth $140 per share for a value of $14,000. If you were to sell the shares of stock to give a gift to the church, you would realize a capital gain on the sale, and have to pay the IRS the appropriate capital gains tax. BUT, if you gifted the appreciated shares of that stock to Village Bible Church, you avoid the capital gains tax PLUS you can deduct the full $14,000 value of the stock from your annual income tax as a charitable donation. All for the original cost of $4,000. The church gets the $14,000 and the capital gain tax is avoided completely. This works for shares of mutual funds as well as individual stocks.
Again—this is for illustration purposes only. Consult your personal investment adviser for information specific to your financial situation.
What is the Process for Gifting Stock?
Village Bible Church has a brokerage account which makes it very easy to transfer stock as a charitable contribution. After discussing with your investment adviser how much stock you would like to give, contact Stephanie Beattie for the information your advisor will need to make the transfer. ( or 630-466-7198)
Next Steps:
- Determine the amount in dollars you would like to gift to Village Bible Church. Ask your financial adviser to identify which appreciated stock and how many shares of that appreciated stock you will need to donate to meet the dollar amount you determine to give.
- Your financial adviser will prepare an authorization form to transfer the stock to Village's brokerage account. You will need to sign the appropriate paperwork to initiate the transfer.
- In order for us to give you proper credit for your contribution, please ask your financial adviser to prepare a letter to be sent to Village Bible Church indicating the details of the stock transfer: transfer date, stock ticker, and number of shares. This is a vital step that is often overlooked. Unfortunately, there is no way to identify the stock with your name when it transfers into the church’s brokerage account.
- Upon receipt of the gift, the church will send you a donation acknowledgement letter.
- Village Bible Church will then sell that stock. The proceeds from the sale will go directly into the fund you designate. If no fund is designated, the proceeds will go into One Fund account.
It's that simple! You've just gifted stock to Village Bible Church, likely giving more than you would have if you had given cash, AND potentially incurred a significant tax savings for yourself!
As always, because of the complexities of tax law surrounding charitable contributions, it is best for a donor to seek professional tax advice when contemplating a significant gift.