FundSvcs Community

Hello,

We recently had donors who gave stock gifts to our organization.  Our standard practice for receipting for a stock gift is to follow IRS guidelines and include the date we had received the stock, the stock received, and the number of shares.  Our policy is that unless the donor reaches out to request it, we would not report out the estimated stock amount (and we include a disclaimer that we are only providing an estimate and they would have to get the precise market value from the financial/tax advisor). 

When these donors received the first receipt, they reached out to request the estimated amount of the gift.  One donor even said that the IRS requires that receipts should show the dollar value.  Is this true?  I haven't been able to corroborate that anywhere.

Then, even after receiving the estimated amount receipt, another one of the donors wrote back and insisted that we send them more information because they "could not determine the value of the stock".  We then sent them the high, low, and mean pricing per share that our Finance department sends to us whenever we receive a stock gift.  This satisfied our donor, but all of this has us wondering if we need to rethink our receipt guidelines with stock gifts. 

From what I have been able to gather, the IRS guidelines haven't changed when it comes to receipting stock gifts, but am I mistaken?  Has general nonprofit best practices shifted at all?  Are more nonprofits providing the high/low/mean share pricing and estimate amount received?  Thanks!

Regards,

Shelli

Shelli Goldzband

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Manager, Gift Processing and Data Management, Development Operations | National Parks Conservation Association

Direct Line: 202.454.3346 | Cell Phone: 202.981.1986 | sgoldzband@npca.org | npca.org

My regular working hours are 8:30AM to 5:30PM Monday – Thursday. I will respond to messages within those hours. Please note NPCA is closed on Fridays.

Your parks. Your turn.

Hello,

We recently had donors who gave stock gifts to our organization.  Our standard practice for receipting for a stock gift is to follow IRS guidelines and include the date we had received the stock, the stock received, and the number of shares.  Our policy is that unless the donor reaches out to request it, we would not report out the estimated stock amount (and we include a disclaimer that we are only providing an estimate and they would have to get the precise market value from the financial/tax advisor). 

When these donors received the first receipt, they reached out to request the estimated amount of the gift.  One donor even said that the IRS requires that receipts should show the dollar value.  Is this true?  I haven't been able to corroborate that anywhere.

Then, even after receiving the estimated amount receipt, another one of the donors wrote back and insisted that we send them more information because they "could not determine the value of the stock".  We then sent them the high, low, and mean pricing per share that our Finance department sends to us whenever we receive a stock gift.  This satisfied our donor, but all of this has us wondering if we need to rethink our receipt guidelines with stock gifts. 

From what I have been able to gather, the IRS guidelines haven't changed when it comes to receipting stock gifts, but am I mistaken?  Has general nonprofit best practices shifted at all?  Are more nonprofits providing the high/low/mean share pricing and estimate amount received?  Thanks!

Regards,

Shelli

Shelli Goldzband

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Manager, Gift Processing and Data Management, Development Operations | National Parks Conservation Association

Direct Line: 202.454.3346 | Cell Phone: 202.981.1986 | sgoldzband@npca.org | npca.org

My regular working hours are 8:30AM to 5:30PM Monday – Thursday. I will respond to messages within those hours. Please note NPCA is closed on Fridays.

Your parks. Your turn.

Hello,

We recently had donors who gave stock gifts to our organization.  Our standard practice for receipting for a stock gift is to follow IRS guidelines and include the date we had received the stock, the stock received, and the number of shares.  Our policy is that unless the donor reaches out to request it, we would not report out the estimated stock amount (and we include a disclaimer that we are only providing an estimate and they would have to get the precise market value from the financial/tax advisor). 

When these donors received the first receipt, they reached out to request the estimated amount of the gift.  One donor even said that the IRS requires that receipts should show the dollar value.  Is this true?  I haven't been able to corroborate that anywhere.

Then, even after receiving the estimated amount receipt, another one of the donors wrote back and insisted that we send them more information because they "could not determine the value of the stock".  We then sent them the high, low, and mean pricing per share that our Finance department sends to us whenever we receive a stock gift.  This satisfied our donor, but all of this has us wondering if we need to rethink our receipt guidelines with stock gifts. 

From what I have been able to gather, the IRS guidelines haven't changed when it comes to receipting stock gifts, but am I mistaken?  Has general nonprofit best practices shifted at all?  Are more nonprofits providing the high/low/mean share pricing and estimate amount received?  Thanks!

Regards,

Shelli

Shelli Goldzband

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Manager, Gift Processing and Data Management, Development Operations | National Parks Conservation Association

Direct Line: 202.454.3346 | Cell Phone: 202.981.1986 | sgoldzband@npca.org | npca.org

My regular working hours are 8:30AM to 5:30PM Monday – Thursday. I will respond to messages within those hours. Please note NPCA is closed on Fridays.

Your parks. Your turn.

Hi, Shelli –

For what it's worth, I've worked at places that have adopted the "internal valuation" language (see John's paper) – noting that it is not intended to be used for tax purposes, and that people should consult tax professionals for guidance.  My experience is that donors aren't concerned about the caveat that the valuation is internal only – and that when they want to know the internal valuation, it's often because they want to know how much was applied any pledge they're using the gift to pay for. 

Just a few observations from my end... 

Hello,

We recently had donors who gave stock gifts to our organization.  Our standard practice for receipting for a stock gift is to follow IRS guidelines and include the date we had received the stock, the stock received, and the number of shares.  Our policy is that unless the donor reaches out to request it, we would not report out the estimated stock amount (and we include a disclaimer that we are only providing an estimate and they would have to get the precise market value from the financial/tax advisor). 

When these donors received the first receipt, they reached out to request the estimated amount of the gift.  One donor even said that the IRS requires that receipts should show the dollar value.  Is this true?  I haven't been able to corroborate that anywhere.

Then, even after receiving the estimated amount receipt, another one of the donors wrote back and insisted that we send them more information because they "could not determine the value of the stock".  We then sent them the high, low, and mean pricing per share that our Finance department sends to us whenever we receive a stock gift.  This satisfied our donor, but all of this has us wondering if we need to rethink our receipt guidelines with stock gifts. 

From what I have been able to gather, the IRS guidelines haven't changed when it comes to receipting stock gifts, but am I mistaken?  Has general nonprofit best practices shifted at all?  Are more nonprofits providing the high/low/mean share pricing and estimate amount received?  Thanks!

Regards,

Shelli

Shelli Goldzband

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Manager, Gift Processing and Data Management, Development Operations | National Parks Conservation Association

Direct Line: 202.454.3346 | Cell Phone: 202.981.1986 | sgoldzband@npca.org | npca.org

My regular working hours are 8:30AM to 5:30PM Monday – Thursday. I will respond to messages within those hours. Please note NPCA is closed on Fridays.

Your parks. Your turn.

Hi, Shelli –

For what it's worth, I've worked at places that have adopted the "internal valuation" language (see John's paper) – noting that it is not intended to be used for tax purposes, and that people should consult tax professionals for guidance.  My experience is that donors aren't concerned about the caveat that the valuation is internal only – and that when they want to know the internal valuation, it's often because they want to know how much was applied any pledge they're using the gift to pay for. 

Just a few observations from my end... 

Hello,

We recently had donors who gave stock gifts to our organization.  Our standard practice for receipting for a stock gift is to follow IRS guidelines and include the date we had received the stock, the stock received, and the number of shares.  Our policy is that unless the donor reaches out to request it, we would not report out the estimated stock amount (and we include a disclaimer that we are only providing an estimate and they would have to get the precise market value from the financial/tax advisor). 

When these donors received the first receipt, they reached out to request the estimated amount of the gift.  One donor even said that the IRS requires that receipts should show the dollar value.  Is this true?  I haven't been able to corroborate that anywhere.

Then, even after receiving the estimated amount receipt, another one of the donors wrote back and insisted that we send them more information because they "could not determine the value of the stock".  We then sent them the high, low, and mean pricing per share that our Finance department sends to us whenever we receive a stock gift.  This satisfied our donor, but all of this has us wondering if we need to rethink our receipt guidelines with stock gifts. 

From what I have been able to gather, the IRS guidelines haven't changed when it comes to receipting stock gifts, but am I mistaken?  Has general nonprofit best practices shifted at all?  Are more nonprofits providing the high/low/mean share pricing and estimate amount received?  Thanks!

Regards,

Shelli

Shelli Goldzband

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Manager, Gift Processing and Data Management, Development Operations | National Parks Conservation Association

Direct Line: 202.454.3346 | Cell Phone: 202.981.1986 | sgoldzband@npca.org | npca.org

My regular working hours are 8:30AM to 5:30PM Monday – Thursday. I will respond to messages within those hours. Please note NPCA is closed on Fridays.

Your parks. Your turn.

Hi, Shelli –

For what it's worth, I've worked at places that have adopted the "internal valuation" language (see John's paper) – noting that it is not intended to be used for tax purposes, and that people should consult tax professionals for guidance.  My experience is that donors aren't concerned about the caveat that the valuation is internal only – and that when they want to know the internal valuation, it's often because they want to know how much was applied any pledge they're using the gift to pay for. 

Just a few observations from my end... 

Hello,

We recently had donors who gave stock gifts to our organization.  Our standard practice for receipting for a stock gift is to follow IRS guidelines and include the date we had received the stock, the stock received, and the number of shares.  Our policy is that unless the donor reaches out to request it, we would not report out the estimated stock amount (and we include a disclaimer that we are only providing an estimate and they would have to get the precise market value from the financial/tax advisor). 

When these donors received the first receipt, they reached out to request the estimated amount of the gift.  One donor even said that the IRS requires that receipts should show the dollar value.  Is this true?  I haven't been able to corroborate that anywhere.

Then, even after receiving the estimated amount receipt, another one of the donors wrote back and insisted that we send them more information because they "could not determine the value of the stock".  We then sent them the high, low, and mean pricing per share that our Finance department sends to us whenever we receive a stock gift.  This satisfied our donor, but all of this has us wondering if we need to rethink our receipt guidelines with stock gifts. 

From what I have been able to gather, the IRS guidelines haven't changed when it comes to receipting stock gifts, but am I mistaken?  Has general nonprofit best practices shifted at all?  Are more nonprofits providing the high/low/mean share pricing and estimate amount received?  Thanks!

Regards,

Shelli

Shelli Goldzband

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Manager, Gift Processing and Data Management, Development Operations | National Parks Conservation Association

Direct Line: 202.454.3346 | Cell Phone: 202.981.1986 | sgoldzband@npca.org | npca.org

My regular working hours are 8:30AM to 5:30PM Monday – Thursday. I will respond to messages within those hours. Please note NPCA is closed on Fridays.

Your parks. Your turn.

Hi, Shelli –

For what it's worth, I've worked at places that have adopted the "internal valuation" language (see John's paper) – noting that it is not intended to be used for tax purposes, and that people should consult tax professionals for guidance.  My experience is that donors aren't concerned about the caveat that the valuation is internal only – and that when they want to know the internal valuation, it's often because they want to know how much was applied any pledge they're using the gift to pay for. 

Just a few observations from my end... 

Hello,

We recently had donors who gave stock gifts to our organization.  Our standard practice for receipting for a stock gift is to follow IRS guidelines and include the date we had received the stock, the stock received, and the number of shares.  Our policy is that unless the donor reaches out to request it, we would not report out the estimated stock amount (and we include a disclaimer that we are only providing an estimate and they would have to get the precise market value from the financial/tax advisor). 

When these donors received the first receipt, they reached out to request the estimated amount of the gift.  One donor even said that the IRS requires that receipts should show the dollar value.  Is this true?  I haven't been able to corroborate that anywhere.

Then, even after receiving the estimated amount receipt, another one of the donors wrote back and insisted that we send them more information because they "could not determine the value of the stock".  We then sent them the high, low, and mean pricing per share that our Finance department sends to us whenever we receive a stock gift.  This satisfied our donor, but all of this has us wondering if we need to rethink our receipt guidelines with stock gifts. 

From what I have been able to gather, the IRS guidelines haven't changed when it comes to receipting stock gifts, but am I mistaken?  Has general nonprofit best practices shifted at all?  Are more nonprofits providing the high/low/mean share pricing and estimate amount received?  Thanks!

Regards,

Shelli

Shelli Goldzband

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Manager, Gift Processing and Data Management, Development Operations | National Parks Conservation Association

Direct Line: 202.454.3346 | Cell Phone: 202.981.1986 | sgoldzband@npca.org | npca.org

My regular working hours are 8:30AM to 5:30PM Monday – Thursday. I will respond to messages within those hours. Please note NPCA is closed on Fridays.

Your parks. Your turn.