Go on, be charitable, and gift some shares this Christmas.
With Christmas just a fortnight away, it's that time of year when our thoughts turn to last-minute shopping procrastination and, hopefully, to those a little less fortunate.
Now many of us have a bunch of share certificates we're left with for one reason or another that are worth just a few pounds, or, increasingly, are in companies which have chosen to delist from the stock market. These may be relatively worthless to you and me, but not to ShareGift; a charity set up by its Chief Exec Claire Mackintosh back in 1996.
Claire, a former investment fund manager, spotted the enormous waste of potential of the small shareholdings many investors are left with for one reason or another whether from privatisations, scrip dividends, inheritance splits, or simply investments which have fallen a long way in value -- and which are barely worth the cost of dealing.
Tis The Season...
She established the charity to accept gifts of share certificates, to build up reasonable holdings of shares in companies through agglomeration of all the share cert gifts the organisation receives, and to then convert them to cash and give the money to charities.
"Everyone said it wouldn't work at first," she says, "but we've recently passed a milestone as we made a donation to our 1600th charity, and have so far raised a total of £14m, which is very satisfying indeed".
Without ShareGift, this money would remain tied up in unwanted shares and never reach these beneficiaries. The organisation has become a recognised expert in the field of charity share donation, with feedback from companies and their shareholders showing how much they value the charity's solution for disposing of unwanted shares.
Simple idea -- complex process
The idea is simple, but the work necessary to generate ShareGift's income stream is extremely complex and time-consuming; receiving shares, speaking to shareholders and registrars, researching old holdings, replacing lost or invalid certificates, handling the resulting diverse portfolio and, ultimately, selling the shares.
The private client stockbrokers Killik & Co. waive all ShareGift's commission charges and there is no charge to share donors. Even if you have just one or two shares, ShareGift can put them to good work. The charity also helps shareholders with larger, tax-efficient donations of shares.
Where the money goes
The process needs to be completed before ShareGift can even think about making charitable donations from the pool of money gradually created. But when it has, donations are made to a wide range of UK registered charities covering a vast area of local, national and international work.
Donors aren't able to specify exactly which charity they'd like the proceeds from their shares to go to, but their suggestions are taken into account by ShareGift's Board of Trustees in making their decisions. The list of charities supported gradually increases as the pot grows and new suggestions are made.
With the launch of ShareGift USA in 2005, and ShareGift Australia in 2007, the idea is gradually spreading, with charities around the world benefiting from a significant and entirely new source of income.
How to give
It's easy to give your shares to ShareGift. If you have a share certificate in your name, you simply need to fill in the donation coupon and send it to the organisation with the share certificate(s) that you wish to donate.
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