Does anyone else have challenges with unidentified stock gifts?
We routinely get stock gifts into our Schwab account with no additional information. We have a process for sharing stock transfer information with donors but once someone has that information it's easy for them to send other gifts and frequently we receive stocks with no indication who it's from or for which fund it's intended. Does anyone else have this challenge? or how do you prevent this happenning?
Answers
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Yes we have this challenge!
Our donor services group is getting really good at getting the message out to donors that they need to alert us when they're making a stock gift. We also re-iterate it anytime/anywhere we put deadlines - website, donor newsletters, etc.
Once donor services knows of an incoming gift, they notify Finance. We log it onto a spreadsheet with whatever info we have - # of shares, ticker, date the donor notified us. Sometimes the transfer comes right away, sometimes the donor waits months, but this way we've logged it and it isn't lost in email.
Donor services has access to the spreadsheet as well, so they can see what stage the gift is in - received in our clearing account, sold, waiting on check, etc.
We absolutely still have gifts that we struggle to place, but the communication and shared spreadsheet has helped for sure.
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It's rare these days but we do have this from time to time. Our development team, similar to @tammysprow, tells our donors to let the Development team know when they are planning a gift of stock. Our VP of Development typically sends an email to our investment manager and those involved in gift processing (Development, Admin, Finance) to tell us what is coming and that it's approved to liquidate once received etc.
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