{"id":420733,"date":"2026-10-06T23:59:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/420733\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:59:22","slug":"your-best-charitable-gift-may-not-be-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/420733\/","title":{"rendered":"Your best charitable gift may not be cash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the Catalyst\u2019s Community Voices platform. We\u2019ve curated community leaders and thinkers from all parts of our great city to speak issues that affect us all. Visit our\u00a0Community Voices page<\/a>\u00a0for more details.<\/p>\n

When people think about making a charitable gift, cash is usually the first thing that comes to mind. It is familiar, simple, and sometimes exactly the right choice.<\/p>\n

But it is not the only choice.<\/p>\n

One of the most useful questions a donor can ask is not just, \u201cHow much do I want to give?\u201d but also, \u201cWhat do I want to give?\u201d That distinction can matter, especially at year-end, when people are reviewing investments, retirement accounts, donor-advised funds and estate plans alongside their charitable goals.<\/p>\n

Appreciated stock is a good example. Maybe you bought shares years ago and they have grown significantly in value. If you are planning to make a charitable gift, ask your financial or tax advisor whether donating some of those shares directly could make more sense than selling them first and then giving cash.<\/p>\n

In many cases, giving appreciated stock directly can be more tax-efficient than selling the stock first. The details depend on your individual circumstances, but the broader point is simple: an asset you already own may be a better charitable gift than cash.<\/p>\n

And if the organization you want to support does not have a brokerage account, that does not necessarily mean stock is off the table. This is one place a community foundation can be helpful. Community foundations often help donors and nonprofits work through the practical steps involved in making a gift of appreciated securities, and what initially sounds complicated can sometimes be quite simple.<\/p>\n

Retirement assets can create another opportunity. Depending on age and eligibility, some donors can make qualified charitable distributions directly from an IRA. Others may want to consider charitable beneficiary designations as part of their estate planning. These are the kinds of opportunities that are best discussed with the appropriate financial, tax, or legal advisor, but they are worth knowing exist.<\/p>\n

Donor-advised funds are another example. If someone has already set aside charitable dollars in a DAF, year-end may be less about making a new contribution and more about deciding where those funds should go. A charitable gift does not always have to begin with money coming out of a checking account today.<\/p>\n

For donors thinking about larger or more complex gifts, there are additional tools as well. A charitable remainder trust, for example, can sometimes bring together charitable giving, income planning, and longer-term financial goals. These arrangements require careful planning with professional advisors, but they are another reminder that charitable giving can take many forms.<\/p>\n

The goal is not to make philanthropy more complicated. It is to make sure donors know they have options.<\/p>\n

At Pinellas Community Foundation, we regularly work alongside financial advisors, CPAs, estate planning attorneys, donors, and nonprofits to help connect charitable goals with practical ways to give. Sometimes that means helping with a stock gift. Sometimes it means talking through a donor-advised fund, retirement assets, or a future legacy gift. Sometimes it simply means helping someone understand what questions to ask next.<\/p>\n

As year-end approaches, it is worth looking beyond the checkbook. Cash may still be the right answer, but it should not always be the automatic one.<\/p>\n

Meg Lokey is VP of Philanthropy at the Pinellas Community Foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to the Catalyst\u2019s Community Voices platform. We\u2019ve curated community leaders and thinkers from all parts of our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-420733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}