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  • 1.  receipts for brokerage accounts (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC for example)

    Posted 09-24-2025 11:11 AM

    Hi Everyone,

    How do you handle receipts for donations received from brokerage accounts?  Our insitution hard credits whoever wrote the check, in this instance Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, and soft credits the individual.  I have a donor requesting a receipt with the tax language for their gift which came through Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC.  I do not have confirmation if it was an IRA QCD.  I have sent them an acknoweldgment for this gift, but they are not satisfied with that and their tax accountant is asking them for a receipt.  Fidelity Brokerage is not the donor advised fund like Fidelity Charitable.  This is just the brokerage account.

    Thanks for your guidance as always!

    Molly



    ------------------------------
    Molly Kaszuba

    Senior Director of Advancement Operations
    New York Law School
    molly.kaszuba@nyls.edu
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: receipts for brokerage accounts (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC for example)

    Posted 09-24-2025 11:21 AM
    If it came from a brokerage account it's likely a stock gift, not an IRA. In either case, the legal donor is the individual. You will need to confirm with either the donor or Fidelity the origin of the gift.

    If a gift of stock, the brokerage firm is simply selling the stock they donated and sending you the proceeds.

    The legal donor is the individual, and they gave you stock, not cash. As such, the individual should receive a property gift receipt per IRS Publication 1771. This means the receipt should only describe the property given (name of security and the number of shares), without reflecting a value.

    In cases where it is important from a donor relations perspective to let the donor know the amount you credited to the fund, that should be a close approximation of the legal value (average between the high and low as of the date the shares landed in your account), not the amount received from the broker. And the receipt should say something like, 

    "Thank you for your gift of X shares of Y stock, which we have valued for our internal purposes only at $Z as of MM/DD/YY.  For tax purposes, you will want to seek guidance from a tax professional in determining your deductible amount."

    John H. Taylor, Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier Street
    Durham, NC     27705

    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987






  • 3.  RE: receipts for brokerage accounts (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC for example)

    Posted 09-24-2025 11:51 AM

    Hi, we hard credit the donor for gifts that come from Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC or other like account holders as these are not from a DAF. Typically, somewhere on the collateral there will be something indicating it is an IRA or QCD. Our receipt language for these gifts is below.

     

    We are writing to acknowledge that we received your gift directly from your IRA plan trustee/administrator in the form of check #0000 dated 00/00/0000 in the amount of $0.00.

    We understand that it is your intention for all or a portion of your gift to qualify as a qualified charitable distribution from your IRA under section 408(d)(8) of the Internal Revenue Code In that connection, we warrant to you that our organization is qualified under section 170(b)(1)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code and that your gift was not transferred to either a donor advised fund or a supporting organization as described in section 509(a)(3).

    No goods or services were provided in return for this gift.

    Please consult a tax advisor to discuss the income-exclusion aspects of your IRA distribution with respect to your income tax returns. If you have any questions, please call 000-000-0000 and ask for department name.

     

     

    Karry Morton | Director, Gift Services
    Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation
    13123 East 16th Avenue, Box 045 | Aurora, CO 80045
    Phone: 720-777-1742 | Cell: 720-323-3305


    SupportChildrensColorado.org | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

     

     

    From fixing broken bones to treating pediatric cancer, your generosity helps us serve Children's Hospital Colorado patients and families who depend on us every day. Donate today.

     

    If you would like to opt-out of communications from Children's Colorado Foundation, please email info@childrenscoloradofoundation.org or call 720-777-1700.

     

    CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this message is legally privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. Any release, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the author immediately by replying to this message and delete the original message. Thank you.

     






  • 4.  RE: receipts for brokerage accounts (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC for example)

    Posted 09-24-2025 12:25 PM

    Thank you John and Karry for the detail.  In this instance, we received a check from Fidelity Brokerage with no other detail other than a reference to the individual constituent's name.  From what John is telling me, it looks like I need to call Fidelity directly to confirm what this is.



    ------------------------------
    Molly Kaszuba

    Senior Director of Advancement Operations
    New York Law School
    molly.kaszuba@nyls.edu
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: receipts for brokerage accounts (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC for example)

    Posted 09-24-2025 12:58 PM
    That, or call the donor (that might be easiest). You must confirm the nature of the transaction to issue the correct receipt.

    If an IRA, all the legalese suggested back in the mid-'00s is not required on a receipt. However, it is crucial to distinguish between an RMD (treated just like a normal gift) and a QCD (not tax-deductible but tax-exempt, handled as such by the check issuer, and reported elsewhere on a tax return).

    John

    John H. Taylor, Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier Street
    Durham, NC     27705

    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: receipts for brokerage accounts (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC for example)

    Posted 09-24-2025 01:35 PM

    John, I agree - If an IRA, all the legalese suggested back in the mid-'00s is not required on a receipt. However, when we stopped sending that language, we had a lot of requests from donor's and their tax advisors start asking for it. We found it easier just to put it back in ☹

     

    Karry Morton | Director, Gift Services
    Children's Hospital Colorado Foundation
    13123 East 16th Avenue, Box 045 | Aurora, CO 80045
    Phone: 720-777-1742 | Cell: 720-323-3305


    SupportChildrensColorado.org | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn

     

     

    From fixing broken bones to treating pediatric cancer, your generosity helps us serve Children's Hospital Colorado patients and families who depend on us every day. Donate today.

     

    If you would like to opt-out of communications from Children's Colorado Foundation, please email info@childrenscoloradofoundation.org or call 720-777-1700.

     

    CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this message is legally privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. Any release, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify the author immediately by replying to this message and delete the original message. Thank you.

     




    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: receipts for brokerage accounts (Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC for example)

    Posted 09-24-2025 01:41 PM
    Understood. I've had to educate a few tax advisors (and auditors) over the years. The donors tend not to really know or care ��. 

    However, if a client of mine needs extra steps to add specific acknowledgements that delay issuing a receipt, I advise them to skip that language and automate the inclusion of the RMD/QCD reference (done through a special payment subtype). That will satisfy at least 90% of the donors. 

    You can manually prepare a "duplicate" receipt for those who still want this language (even though they had to acknowledge similar language when they requested the distribution).

    John

    John H. Taylor, Principal
    John H. Taylor Consulting, LLC
    2604 Sevier Street
    Durham, NC     27705

    919.816.5903 (cell/text)

    Serving the Advancement Community Since 1987





    Original Message


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