His motivation was perfect, but his plan needed a gentle suggestion
Read this conversation that took place recently between a donor and our founder
I was recently having lunch with one of our donors who had invited me to lunch to share “a great idea” he had been working on! I had barely shaken his hand when he launched into his great idea! “Chuck” he said, “I have had a banner year in the stock market and I am going to sell a big chunk of my “Acme'“ stock and give the proceeds to Cafe 1040!”
"WOW!” I replied! I wanted to ask how he was doing, how was his wife and family, but could tell by the eagerness on his face that he would to be derailed by my love of his family. So I continued instead with, “Thank you! I cannot tell you how grateful I am that you are actually thinking about Cafe 1040 in the midst of this financial blessing!”
“It truly is a blessing from God!” he replied. "How could I not think about blessing God’s work with this blessing from God himself!”
His motivation was perfect, but his plan needed a gentle suggestion.
Finally, I decided to thank him again, affirm his motives and generosity, and then ask about his family, his work, etc. Eventually, I circled back. “Bob, I wanted to re-visit this amazing idea you have. Do you mind if we explore some numbers together?
“Sure!” he replied. I grabbed a napkin and a sharpie and began. (I think most of life’s problems can be solved with a napkin and a sharpie).
Last year you purchased 100 shares of stock in the Acme Corporation at $15/share. Acme announced they had finally perfected their exploding tennis ball and their shares soared to $75 share. The following quarter they announced they were finally leaving the anvil market due to lack of market growth and their shares soared again to $100 a share!
If you sold your shares of Acme today at $100 a share, you would receive (100 shares x $100 each) $10,000. $10,000 minus your initial investment of (100 shares x $15 each) $1,500 equals a capital gain of $8,500. Great job! You will now have to pay a capital gain tax on $8,500 to the IRS. Depending on your tax bracket, you will walk away from your Acme deal with no more than $6,000. Not a bad day!
But, if you gave the Acme stock to Cafe 1040 today, you would get a giving receipt for a tax deductible donation of $10,000, and Cafe 1040 would sell that stock immediately and receive the proceeds of $10,000. You pay zero capital gains on this transaction AND get a $10,000 deduction! This is a much better day for you and invests in the mission and vision of Cafe 1040.
“Bob,” I began cautiously, “I really, truly am encouraged by your generosity and we will joyfully and gratefully receive your gift however you chose to make it. I just thought you should know that you have options.”
