Churches Selling Stock

Churches in the position to sell stock can choose from two options:

  1. If your church chooses to sell the securities itself (rather than have United Methodist Foundation do it for you as explained in Option 1), you will need to open a brokerage account and make sure all of the necessary steps are followed with that broker in order for the officers/persons named in the resolution to sell the gifted securities.

Please note: There are specific requirements which must be followed to protect the charitable deduction and significant tax benefits for the donor and to ensure that the gift is handled properly. If assistance is desired from the Foundation, it is best to contact us prior to the actual transfer of the securities to the church. If the proper transfer/gifting process is not followed, the tax deduction for the gift may be limited or lost.

  1. Churches can choose to adopt a standing resolution empowering the sale of stock to be handled through United Methodist Foundation, Inc. (There is no fee for this service.) The church will then be in a position to sell gifted securities without the confusion and complications that sometimes arise.

The resolution needs to be adopted by the Charge Conference. The Secretary of the Charge Conference will then complete the portion certifying adoption of the resolution, date, sign, and have the document notarized. Keep the original in your Charge Conference records.

Next, make another copy of the resolution and certification parts of the document, but without the date and signature (Secretary of the Charge Conference) and notarization. Each time a current gift of securities is made to the church, the Secretary of the Charge Conference needs to date and sign a copy of the document and have his/her signature notarized. This copy is then delivered with the stock certificate and signed stock power to the broker for sale of the securities.

Click here for a sample Charge Conference Resolution Authorizing Sale of Securities (pdf file) approved by legal counsel.

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