Posted by Jay McGovern

I recently spoke to Jamie, one of our donors who had sent her annual gift to JF&CS in the form of a gift of stock:

"Gifts of stock are so easy to give. I simply order the stocks transferred in the amount of my annual gift to the account provided by JF&CS. Two quick emails and it's done. "

With the end of the calendar year approaching, it is a good time to consider gifts to your favorite charities, and I hope you will think about supporting JF&CS even if you've already given earlier this year. It is through the generosity of our supporters that JF&CS is able to make a difference in the lives of so many others.

Gifts of publicly traded stock that have appreciated in value allow you to claim a charitable deduction for the full market value of the stock on the date the gift is made. You pay no capital gains tax on the appreciation. Donating appreciated assets directly to JF&CS—rather than selling the assets and then donating the cash proceeds—is one of the easiest and most tax-advantageous ways for you to give.*

I hope you'll agree that taking advantage of incentives created by the IRS to promote charitable giving can be a great way to generously support JF&CS. You can make your charitable gift go farther while really making a difference by supporting JF&CS.

Gifts of stock can be transferred electronically or certificates can be mailed or hand-delivered directly to the JF&CS Development Office. When planning to make a gift of stock to JF&CS, please contact Christina Horvath in the Development Office at chorvath@jfcsboston.org or 781-693-5708.

*For example, if you plan to donate $2,000 to JF&CS, you can donate cash and receive your tax deduction that way. But what if you have some appreciating shares of stock that you bought 10 years ago for $1,000 that are now worth $2,000? If you sell the shares, you have a capital gain of $1,000. But instead, if you donate the stock by transferring the shares directly to JF&CS, you get to claim the entire $2,000 as a deduction on your taxes and you avoid any capital gains tax.

Jay McGovern, Senior Development Officer, has been with the JF&CS Development department since the summer of 2013. He has thoroughly enjoyed working in the nonprofit fundraising arena during his 30 year career, having worked at some of our region's leading hospitals, organizations, and causes. Jay has an MSW from the Boston College School of Social Work and is a longtime resident of Newburyport where he lives with his wife, Susan, a book illustrator, and their three daughters.