Stock Gifts

Gifts of stock or appreciated securities have the double benefit of providing an immediate tax deduction for the full market value of the stocks as well as avoiding capital gains taxes. For income tax purposes the value of such a gift may be deducted up to 30% of adjusted gross income (AGI), with an additional five-year carry over rule.

Example: Assume that you purchased 100 shares of ABC Corporation in 1982 at a cost of $2,000. Today the shares are worth $10,000 and pay less than 2% annual dividends. If you sold the stock, you would realize an $8,000 capital gain. If you gifted that stock to a charitable institution such as Champlain College, you would completely avoid the capital gains tax.
 

How to Make a Gift of Stock:

When Champlain College receives a stock gift, we sell the stock as soon as we receive it into our account to put it to immediate use for College programs. It is important that you not sell the securities in your name; as you would then be liable for capital gains taxes. Here are the steps that you should use:

• If the stock is held in "street name" at a brokerage firm or bank other than Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, contact your representative to authorize the firm to transfer the shares to:
  MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY
  Account # 383-111854-042
  DTC #0015
  For the account of: Champlain College
• If the stock is held in a MORGAN STANLEY SMITH BARNEY account, send written authorization to your account representative to journal the gift from your Smith Barney account to:
  Account #383-111854-042
  For the account of: Champlain College
• For all other circumstances, please call the Advancement Office for instructions.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please inform us immediately when you make a stock transfer so we may acknowledge your gift, the value of which is determined by mean stock value on the day the securities are transferred from your ownership, and so we may make sure that your gift is directed according to your wishes. You can contact us at 866.421.7170 or 802.383.6620 or email us at advancement@champlain.edu. This is important because your broker may not include your name in the transfer and in that case we won't know who the gift of stock is from. Donors making gifts at the end of the calendar year should personally contact their broker to confirm that the transfer will be completed on or before December 31.