Making a Gift of Listed Securities to Kenyon
A gift of securities offers you a number of advantages. Your gift is the full market value of the securities, and you may deduct this amount from your taxable income for federal income tax purposes (up to a limit of 30 percent of your adjusted gross income in the gift year, with any excess carried over for up to five subsequent years). Moreover, you will never have to pay capital-gains tax on the increased value of the securities, as you would if you sold them and donated cash.
There are two processes for making a gift, depending on the nature of the securities. In both instances, at the time of the gift, please notify Nathan Soliday (contact details below). That way we will know who is giving the gift and to whom receipts should be sent for tax purposes.
The value of a gift of securities is established using the mean of the high and low stock quotations on the day the securities pass to Kenyon's control. More information about the date of contribution can be found below. For information on making gifts of closely held stock, life insurance, or other property, Nathan Soliday, associate director of gift and records management, at soliday1@kenyon.edu, 740-427-5150.
Securities held with a broker
Instruct the broker to transfer the securities from your account to Kenyon's account (see our broker's information below), and at the same time inform Nathan Soliday of the transfer by mail, email soliday1@kenyon.edu, or telephone 740-427-5150.
Kenyon College Broker
Kenyon's broker is Lincoln-Douglas Investments, LLC,1051 Newark Road, Mount Vernon, Ohio 43050. Phone: 740-397-1397. DTC Number through National Financial Services: 0226. Kenyon Account Number: LDR000159. Broker Number: MV2.
Securities represented by a physical certificate
Send the unendorsed certificate and, under separate cover, a signed (with medallion signature guarantee gotten from a bank or brokerage firm) stock-power form (PDF) executed in blank (no named transferee) and a letter of authorization (states number of shares and name of stock and the allocation for proceeds of sale) with a medallion signature guarantee to Nathan Soliday, associate director of gift and records management, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH 43022-9623
Date of Contribution for Gifts of Securities
If the securities are transferred electronically (via DTC), then the date of contribution is the date on which the securities are received in Kenyon's account. Please note that the gift of securities is not complete until you, and your transfer agent, have delivered the securities to Kenyon's account. Merely instructing your broker to make the transfer is not enough to satisfy the IRS legal requirement. It has been our experience that, in some cases, brokers move stocks into a temporary account or delay completing the transfer. Be sure to let your broker know that it is essential that the transfer to Kenyon be executed immediately.
For stock certificates mailed or delivered to Kenyon, the date of contribution is the latest of: (a) the postmark on the envelope containing the certificate, (b) the postmark on the envelope containing the stock power, (c) the endorsement date on the certificate or stock power, or (d) the date the certificate is hand-delivered to an agent of Kenyon.
If a stock certificate is not sent to Kenyon but registered in our name by the donor and the donor's agent, the date of contribution is the date the stock is transferred on the books of the issuing corporation.
For more information, see IRS Publication 561.