Stocks & ETFs

Tax-smart asset donations, made simple.

Tax-smart donors know that donating long-term appreciated securities can result in larger deductions on their income taxes, and more money going to charities. Donors are generally able to deduct the full fair market value of the donated asset, avoid capital gains taxes, and use the full liquidated value for charitable giving.

Stocks & ETFs

Donating stocks and ETFs to your Charityvest fund is simple:

  • Get your account number: by visiting your Dashboard, selecting Contribute, and selecting Donate Stocks and ETFs. We'll provide you with a unique brokerage account to send shares to. This is your private stock contribution account at Charityvest; please don't share it with others.

  • Make a transfer from your broker: Use your brokerage's process to initiate your contribution, or share the information with your financial advisor. You choose which shares and tax lots to send. We never have access to your brokerage account.

  • We receive and sell automatically: As soon as we receive the shares from your broker, we'll sell the shares and assign the value to your Charityvest account within one business day, providing you with a detailed tax receipt. We intend to automate this process in the future to get the funds in your account even sooner.

Stock and ETF donations trade commission-free.

Donating employee stock? Like purchased stocks & ETFs, vested RSAs, RSUs, and stock received from NSOs should be held for at least one year from grant (or exercise for NSOs) to ensure long-term basis tax treatment. Consult a tax advisor for more information.

Mutual Funds

We accept donations of mutual funds through a dedicated mutual fund clearing account. Mutual funds are easily identified by ticker symbols that are 5 letters long, and which always end in X (e.g., VTSAX, VFIAX).

If your donation includes mutual funds, please direct your gift to the below account:

Account Title / Owner: Charityvest, Inc. Account Number: DWP001718 Brokerage: Pershing LLC (DTC #0443)

Want to verify your mutual fund contribution will be allocated to the correct account? Please include the recipient Charityvest account holder full name and email in the memo field of your mutual fund transfer if possible. Otherwise, contact us at support@charityvest.org to verify your transfer details.

Tax-deductible value

Charityvest provides you with an estimate of the tax-deductible value of your stock and ETF donations at the time your gift is posted to your account.

For stocks and ETFs, we use the IRS recommended method and use the simple average price of the publicly-traded security on the day we received it. Specifically, we take the day's low price and the day's high price, and we average them.

Ultimately, it is your responsibility as the taxpayer to accurately represent and claim a tax deduction on your income taxes; all information provided by Charityvest is for convenience only. Please seek advice from tax counsel.

For more detail, please check out the appreciated asset section of the Tax Matters page in this Guide.

Details by broker

Use the Contents on the right side of this page or click the links below to find specific instructions for your broker:

Any broker/advisor

If you're not looking for brokerage-specific directions, or you can't find your brokerage on this list, you can still donate stocks and ETFs to Charityvest using our standard process:

  • Get your account number: by visiting your Dashboard, selecting Contribute, and selecting Donate Stocks and ETFs. We'll provide you with a unique brokerage account to send shares to. This is your private stock contribution account at Charityvest; please don't share it with others.

  • Reach out to customer service at your advisor/brokerage and tell them you would like to make a charitable transfer of stock. Instruct your brokerage or advisor which shares to send to Charityvest, and provide your unique Charityvest account information as the receiving account. You may be required to complete a form, or confirm your transfer, to finalize the activity at your broker. You choose which shares and tax lots to send. We never have access to your brokerage account.

  • We receive and sell automatically: As soon as we receive the shares from your broker, we'll sell the shares and assign the value to your Charityvest account within one business day, providing you with a detailed tax receipt. We intend to automate this process in the future to get the funds in your account even sooner.

Fidelity

Schwab

Are you a Schwab Equity Award Center Client?

Choose Transfer Shares in the Equity Award Center to move your shares into a linked Schwab Brokerage account, then complete the Schwab steps as described above.

For urgent transfer requests from EAC to Schwab Brokerage, call: 1-800-654-2593

Chase / J.P. Morgan

E*TRADE

Merrill Edge

Vanguard

Morgan Stanley StockPlan

Need additional assistance? Contact Morgan Stanley StockPlan support:

  • Google/Alphabet employees: 866-466-4785

  • Amazon employees: 801-617-7471

UBS OneSource

Interactive Brokers

Ally Invest

Still have questions or wish to see your brokerage listed? Contact us: support@charityvest.org

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