r/Philanthropy • u/Sea_Background_9507 • 12d ago

Can anyone explain if the wealthiest billionaires claiming to give away all their wealth worth hundreds of billions in charity is actually legit cuz most of their donations are in stocks, that too usually to their own charitable foundation and ofc stocks are not liquid..so..

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u/LavenderRosemary 12d ago

Hi, I work for a nonprofit dealing with donor records and accounting and I have my undergrad degree in nonprofit administration.

I'm not really sure what you're asking but some nonprofits do hold investments in stocks in the form of endowments. Depending on the amount in the endowment, the dividends paid could cover the operating expenses of the organization allowing all additional donations to go purely towards programming. Of course this depends on the type of organization. Not all nonprofits take stock donations or may take it but liquidate the amount.

Regardless, all financial information for nonprofits are publicly available through 990 tax forms.

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u/PatriceBurgeron 8d ago

Does accepting stock as a form of donation help non-profits because they do not have to pay capital gains tax? I am not very educated in this matter but I imagine that alone can help a lot, even more so if, like you said, the stock pays dividends.