Lakeland College

Gifts of cash are most often made through a single payment by check, credit card, or payroll deduction. Annually, Lakeland College also receives cash gifts through pledge payments. Payments of pledges may be established in a number of ways including monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or even spread out over several years. In most instances, cash gifts are unrestricted in nature, thus enabling Lakeland to meet the greatest needs of the college.

Many individuals each year give Lakeland stock or appreciated securities. These gifts offer the donor the opportunity to realize significant tax advantages.

A charitable gift in the form of long-term appreciated securities generally provides two important tax advantages to the donor. First, the donor is entitled to a charitable income tax deduction based on the fair market value - not the cost basis - of the securities, provided that they have been owned for more than twelve months. Second, the donor avoids any potential tax on the capital gains and any sales commission that would be payable upon sale of the securities. Securities can be donated outright or transferred to fund life-income gifts, and can include publicly traded common stocks and bonds.

Example

A donor, who is in the 31% income tax bracket, owns securities currently valued at $50,000 that were purchased several years ago for $20,000. The donor contributes the securities to Lakeland College and realizes a $50,000 charitable deduction that saves $15,500 in income taxes (31% of $50,000). In addition, the donor avoids the potential capital gains tax on the $30,000 paper profit for a further benefit of $6,000 (20% of $30,000).

The full fair market value of gifts of long-term, capital gains securities or real estate is deductible up to 30% of a donor's adjusted gross income. Any amount in excess of the 30% ceiling can be carried forward for five years.

The process to transfer securities is easy. When securities are in the possession of the donor they should be delivered to Lakeland College, without endorsement, by registered mail. A stock power bearing the donor's signature guaranteed by a commercial bank should be delivered separately. If the certificates are already endorsed, the stock power is not required. However, the certificates are therefore negotiable and should be hand-delivered or sent by insured mail.

The gift value of the stock is the mean of the published high and low price as of the latest postmarked date or the date the securities are hand-delivered.

If your securities are held in "street name", you can instruct your broker to transfer them to Lakeland College through our DTC account at Edward Jones in Sheboygan, WI. It is important to notify Lakeland with the name of the stock that will be donated.  The following information should be supplied to the donor's broker. Please communicate directly with the Advancement Administrative Coordinator, Linda Bosman at (920)565-1424 or bosmanlr@lakeland.edu, regarding the details of your stock transfer.

If the securities have depreciated in value, it is not recommended that they be donated directly. It is generally to the donor's advantage to sell the securities to establish a tax deductible loss and then donate the cash proceeds to Lakeland College.