Winter 2006

Receive a Last-Minute Tax Break By Making a Gift of Securities

Making a gift of stocks, bonds, or mutual funds is an excellent way to create and expand opportunities for blind people and at the same time it has significant benefits for the donor.
Gifts of appreciated securities can be deducted as of the date you transferred them. If you have held securities for more than a year, and they have gone up in price, you can deduct the full market value of your gift, rather than the amount you originally paid when you bought them. You receive a tax deduction for the market value of your gift, not the amount you originally paid, and no one pays capital gains taxes.

By making a gift of appreciated securities to the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation, all capital gains taxes are avoided. You pay no capital gains taxes on the increased value because you are transferring the actual securities rather than selling them.

And, the Foundation pays no capital gains taxes because of our nonprofit 501C3 status. The total value of your gift goes to work immediately, whether designated for unrestricted operating support, to fund a specific training program or equipment need, or to be invested as permanent endowment.

Making a gift of securities to the Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation is easy. It can be done electronically by calling your broker and giving the following information:

DTC Book-Entry Eligible Securities

Stocks, Registered Bonds, and Bearer Bonds should be transferred to
Depository Trust Company
The Northern Trust Company
Trust Department
Participant No. 2669
RE: The Seattle Lighthouse for the Blind Foundation
Account #: 26-17273
Once you have initiated your gift, please contact Kirk Adams here at the Lighthouse to notify him of your donation. He can be reached at 206-436-2110 or kadams@seattlelh.org.

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