When Should You Notify the Beneficiary?
No matter what it is that you are thinking of giving, it makes a lot of sense to be in touch with the organization when giving a major gift. For starters: the organizations like to know that they have a gift coming! While this may sound trivial and obvious, it actually has broader implications in the example of something like a capital campaign. Very often, those estate planning gifts that take place at death will actually count towards the capital campaign, thus giving due credit to the contribution and enabling the organization to better plan for their own future.
What to Know About Real Estate and Other Non-Monetary Gifts
If you are thinking about gifting a unique asset such as real estate, you will definitely want to speak with the charity. Most nonprofits don’t want your house or whatever property you might be thinking about gifting to them and will instead be looking to simply sell it. In addition to talking to the organization, it is also important to make sure that you have an executor or trustee who will be able to understand what needs to happen and how to facilitate the asset transfer process effectively and efficiently. In the example of real estate, this would be arranging for the sale of that property and then ensuring it is actually sold and associated expenses are properly addressed. There are, of course, specific instances where a piece of real estate might be of interest: if you had a house across the street from St. Anselm College and you wanted to give that house to the college, they might gladly accept it and convert that building for future use, but a scenario like that is rare.
Why Stocks are a Great Charitable Gift
When it comes to something like stocks, that is actually a whole category to itself and a great option to consider for gifting. Giving stock, especially highly appreciated stock, is a unique way to potentially make an impactful gift due to how it is taxed. If you were to buy a stock at lower price and gift it to a nonprofit at the current, higher price, the nonprofit organization wouldn’t be subject to the same taxes as an individual recipient would be. This is in contrast to how events might unfold with real estate: the executor might sell the property and give the resulting funds to the charity. In the case of stock, you do not want to do that as the estate will be liable for paying the capital gains tax, whereas gifting the stock to the charity enables them to sell the stock without need to pay tax on the sale.
