Year-end Giving Strategies: Ways to Benefit from Your Charitable Gifts
December 31 is fast approaching and most people are done making their year-end gifts to their favorite charities. But if you aren’t, here are a few strategic ideas that may double your gift or help you with your financial management.

Matching Gifts
Did you know you might be able to double your gift? Many companies offer to match charitable contributions made by their employees. Check with your HR person or check with this list of matching companies to see if you company does . With so many mergers and acquisitions, many of us work in the same job but with different employers. So even if your company didn’t match last year, it’s worth double checking this year.

Gifts Involving Stock
You may be able to make strategic use of your stock portfolio to support Inland or Lakewood. When you check with your financial advisors, you might ask them about one of these two strategies.

The first is by not selling your stock to make a charitable contribution. If you make your gift with stocks that have gained value by transferring them to directly Inland, you may have positive tax consequences by possibly not incurring the capital gains tax. Instructions for making that kind of a gift can be found at the Ways of Giving page on this site.

Another strategy selling your stock. According to Inland Board member and financial consultant Suzanne Uhl-Melanson, selling stock that is currently below what you originally paid and then using that money to make a charitable contribution may be a useful strategy. Check with your own financial planner to see if taking a loss on the stock sale and a charitable gift deduction on the gift will help recover the loss of the stock while making a nice contribution to Inland or Lakewood.

This is intended to be a helpful guide to the variety of ways to make a gift Inland or Lakewood. This is not intended as tax or financial planning advice. Laws differ for federal and state purposes, from state to state, and are always subject to change. Each donor's situation is unique.

Please consult your own financial advisors to determine the best course of action for any gift you wish to make.