How to donate stock to charity: The traditional way

1. Decide which shares of stock you want to donate.

First, you’ll need to decide which shares you want to donate, and to which organization. You’ll need the name of the stock, its ticker symbol (if publicly traded), the number of shares to be donated, and the intended transfer date.

2. Obtain your nonprofit’s account information.

Reach out to your preferred nonprofit to get their transfer information and brokerage numbers. To make a stock donation, you’ll need to have the organization’s:

• Full name

• EIN (Employer Identification Number), which is a unique number issued by the IRS to a business entity. You can find a charity’s EIN by doing a quick internet search or checking the IRS’s Tax Exempt Organization Search database. If a charity has multiple chapters, each chapter will likely have its own EIN.

• Name of the charity’s brokerage firm (the receiving institution)

• The nonprofit’s account number with its brokerage

• The nonprofit’s DTC (Depository Trust Company) number

3. Fill out the appropriate stock donation forms and send them to your brokerage.

Your own stock brokerage firm will be responsible for transferring your shares to the charity. You can usually find stock donation forms in your online account portal on your brokerage’s website.

If electronic forms aren’t available, you should fill out printed forms in black ink pen, adding all the information from Steps One and Two. Mail or fax your transfer request to your brokerage’s address, which should be listed on your forms. If you receive a confirmation number, keep it for your records.

To be eligible to receive a tax deduction for the current tax year, you need to complete your stock donation by December 31. Keep in mind that a stock donation is recorded on the day it’s received by the charity, not the day you submit the transfer request. The end-of-year period is especially busy for stock brokerages and charities, so it’s a good idea to plan ahead.

4. Follow up with the charity to make sure the donation is received.

Be sure to notify your charity of your stock gift so they know to expect it. One pitfall of this traditional process is that brokerages often report donations of stock anonymously, meaning the nonprofit might not know who sent them the gift.

Later, follow up with the charity to make sure they receive your stock donation. Once the transaction goes through, your charity should send you a tax receipt that lists the date of transfer, the value of the donation, the number of shares, and the stock’s ticker name.

Check this receipt to make sure your donated stock was liquidated for an accurate fair market value, and keep it for your records for when you next file taxes.

5. Report the stock donation when you file your taxes.

When you file your federal taxes, you must report your stock donation on IRS Form 8283, which is the form for non-cash charitable contributions. You’ll file this form with your tax return for the year you donated the stock.

-source (https://www.freewill.com/learn/how-to-donate-stock-to-charity)