Stock
Explore stock as a payment method in Checkout
Fundraise Up's stock giving feature makes it possible for donors to effortlessly donate stock to your Campaigns. With donations averaging 70 times more than money-based payment methods, stock is a recommended expansion to your online fundraising channels. Stock donations can be accepted by organizations based in the US and Canada.
How it works
Donors can give stock donations using a donation checkout that has been configured to allow stock as a payment method. Below, we describe the donation flow and donation processing workflow for stock giving.
Checkout form
There are two approaches to implementing stock giving for your Checkout modals and Campaign Pages. These approaches are described below.
| Stock as a payment method option | Best for general purpose campaigns. Supporters can easily toggle between money-based methods and noncash options like stock or crypto. Works well for building awareness and engaging “passerby” stock donors. See an example. |
| Stock-specific Checkout modal/Campaign Page | Best for stock giving campaigns that should not reference other payment options. See an example. |
The settings for configuring the stock giving feature are managed at the Campaign level in the Fundraise Up Dashboard: Campaigns → [Campaign name] → Settings → Payment methods.
Selecting stocks
Once a supporter has chosen to donate stock, they can select which specific shares they want to donate. Stocks can be found using the built-in search function, which queries a database of publicly-traded companies in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) or NASDAQ markets.
The returned results include the name, ticker symbol, and approximate share value in your organization's currency. The share value the donors sees is the value at close of business on the day before, according to Marketstack. Please note that the share value shown in the Dashboard thereafter will also be the share price at the end of the day on the day before the payment was marked as ‘successful’.
Supporters can add multiple different stocks and for each added stock, input the number of shares they wish to donate. A subtotal field reports the total approximate current value of the stocks to be donated.
Account information
To donate stock using Fundraise Up, four pieces of information are required from a donor:
- Brokerage account number
- First name
- Last name
- Email address
The personal information (first and last name, email address) collected for a stock donation is a standard requirement for a donation processed using Fundraise Up. Not only does this information form the core of the supporter record, it is also useful for helping you reconcile and acknowledge stock donations.
Similar to money-based checkouts, stock donation checkouts can include fields for collecting a supporter’s phone number, opting-in to your email list, and agreeing to your organization’s terms and conditions or privacy policy.
It is also possible to add Questions to a stock donation checkout, and enable Comments, Designations, and tribute giving.
Mailing address
A supporter is not required to input their mailing address to complete a stock donation. You can enable the address collection screen, but we recommend not requiring a supporter to provide their address information.
Signature collection
A digital signature is collected for all stock donations. This signature authorizes the transfer of stock from a supporter’s brokerage account to your organization’s brokerage account. In cases where a brokerage account is owned by a second account holder, a second signature can be added in Checkout.
Review screen
Before completing checkout, the supporter is shown a summary of their stock donation, including their personal details, account information, and the stocks they intend to donate. Once a supporter selects Donate, the donation is submitted for processing.
Processing a stock donation
To facilitate the transfer of stock from your supporter’s brokerage account to your organization’s account, Fundraise Up requests the transfer from the supporter’s brokerage firm. Typically, this request is completed using a brokerage firm’s existing procedures for transferring stock as a donation, but in some cases, Fundraise Up will provide a transfer order request if a brokerage firm does not have a set process.
Transfer requests are typically initiated by Fundraise Up the same day that a stock donation is made. Once a request is initiated, it can take up to 14 business days for a brokerage firm to complete a transfer.
Statuses
A stock donation has one five statuses. This status is updated as a stock donation is processed and settled. The five statuses are described below:
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Pending | The default status for a stock donation that has been made by a supporter but not yet processed by Fundraise Up |
| Fail | The donation could not be completed. The transfer was flagged as fraudulent, or cancelled at the request of the supporter or your organization |
| Fail, not eligible | The donation could not be completed. The brokerage firm may not facilitate stock transfers for charitable purposes |
| Waiting on transfer | A transfer request was sent from Fundraise Up to the supporter’s brokerage firm |
| Success | Your organization received a supporter’s stock donation |
Receiving a stock donation
Once a transfer is complete, your organization receives the supporter’s original shares. Fundraise Up does not receive and then liquidate the shares and provide your organization with the cash value. This approach provides your organization with control over how stock donations are processed and ensures that a supporter’s relationship is with your organization and not Fundraise Up.
Once we confirm that your organization has received a supporter’s stock donation, the donation receipt is automatically issued to the supporter. The receipt includes the stocks and number of shares donated, but not the donation’s monetary value, as required by IRS regulations.
Donor Portal
Like other donations, supporters can review and manage their stock donations in Donor Portal, a self-service dashboard. Learn more →
Enabling stock donations
To enable stock giving, connect your organization’s brokerage account to Fundraise Up.
Connection steps
To connect your organization’s brokerage account, follow the steps below.
Prerequisites
- Access to your organization’s Fundraise Up account as an Organization Administrator.
- Your organization’s stock brokerage account number.
Steps
- Log in to your organization’s Fundraise Up account.
- Select your name from the upper right area of the Dashboard.
- Select Settings.
- In the sidebar navigation, select Payment methods.
- In the “Payment processors” section, select Brokerage account.
- Select Connect brokerage account.You may be prompted to request activation of the stock giving feature for your organization’s account. If this is the case, a support representative will need to enable the feature. This process is typically completed in one business day.
- Follow the prompts to provide information about your organization’s brokerage account.
- In the “Organization contact details” section, include at least one team member at your organization who we should contact about stock giving-related matters, including billing details. If you have multiple team members who handle stock giving, you can include additional contacts.
- Select Connect.
Your organization’s brokerage account is now connected and you can enable stock as a payment method in Checkout.
Elements compatibility
Since Elements is designed to work primarily with money-based fundraising, some components or features are not compatible with stock giving. Review our documentation on Elements compatibility for more information. Learn more →
Pricing & billing
By default, stock donations are billed at 5% per transaction.
Since stock donations are not processed using a typical payment processor like Stripe or PayPal, the transaction fee is not taken at the point of donation. Instead, transaction fees for successful stock donations are assessed on a monthly basis and billed to a card on file provided by your organization.
Medallion Signature Guarantee
Fundraise Up Inc. is a member of the Medallion Signature Guarantee program, and can certify stock donations transfers of up to $1M in value.
A Medallion Signature Guarantee is required for many transfers, especially transfers of significant value. By providing the guarantee, we expedite the processing of stock donations and reduce the number of steps required of a donor to make a stock donation.