Every November 11, communities across Ohio pause to mark Veterans Day with parades, ceremonies, and quiet moments of thanks. For many families, the day carries personal weight: a parent, spouse, sibling, or grandparent who served. That gratitude often turns into action, and one of the most common ways people act on it is by giving to organizations that support veterans once their service has ended.
Less commonly discussed is how that gift gets made. For donors who hold stocks or mutual funds that have grown in value, giving the shares themselves, rather than selling first and donating the cash, can stretch a gift further and may offer a meaningful tax benefit in the process.
What Veteran-Serving Organizations Actually Do
Veterans’ charities cover a wide range of needs that often continue long after a service member returns home. Some, like the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), help veterans navigate disability claims and access benefits they have earned. Others, such as Fisher House Foundation, provide housing for military and veteran families while a loved one receives medical treatment. Organizations like Team Rubicon mobilize veterans for disaster relief, giving them a continued sense of purpose and community. Still others focus on mental health support, job placement and career transition, or scholarships for the children of fallen service members.
Understanding this variety matters because it can help donors choose an organization whose specific mission resonates with them, rather than giving generically. A gift aimed at transitional housing serves a different need than one aimed at post-traumatic stress support or career retraining, and many donors find that specificity makes the giving feel more personal.
Why Appreciated Stock Can Be an Efficient Way to Give
When you sell an investment that has increased in value, you typically owe capital gains tax on the profit before you ever write a check to charity. Donating the shares directly instead means you generally avoid triggering that tax, since you are transferring ownership of the asset rather than proceeds from a sale. A qualified charity, as a tax-exempt organization, can typically sell the shares without owing that tax either. More of the investment’s full value can then go toward the organization’s work, whether that is covering a night’s stay for a military family at a Fisher House location or funding a job training program for a recently separated veteran.
For donors who itemize deductions, there may be an added benefit. You may be able to deduct the fair market value of the stock at the time of the gift, subject to IRS limits tied to your adjusted gross income. This combination, avoiding capital gains tax while potentially deducting the full value of the gift, is a large part of why this approach has remained popular among charitably minded investors.
A Few Practical Considerations
This strategy tends to work best under certain conditions. The security generally needs to have been held for more than one year to qualify for long-term capital gains treatment, which is what makes the tax benefit meaningful. Itemizing is typically necessary to claim the deduction, so it may make the most sense for donors already itemizing or close to that threshold.
Not every organization is equipped to accept stock gifts directly, so it is worth contacting the veterans’ charity you have in mind ahead of time to confirm they can receive securities and to get the correct transfer instructions. National organizations like DAV, Fisher House, and the VFW National Home for Children generally have established processes for this, and many local and regional veteran-support organizations do as well, though it is worth checking directly.
Other Ways to Structure the Gift
For donors who want more flexibility, a donor advised fund can help. You can contribute appreciated stock to the fund now, potentially claim the deduction this year, and then recommend grants to one or more veteran-serving organizations over time as you decide where the need feels greatest. Donors age 70½ or older with IRA assets have a separate option worth knowing about: a qualified charitable distribution, which can support a veterans’ charity directly from retirement savings and may help satisfy required minimum distributions for those subject to them.
Timing the Gift Around Veterans Day
November is a natural time to think about this. Veterans Day itself often prompts the initial reflection, and the weeks that follow, including Giving Tuesday and the final stretch of the calendar year, are when many veteran-serving organizations receive the bulk of their annual donations. A gift made with intention during this window can help these organizations plan their programs for the year ahead, whether that means housing capacity, benefits counseling staff, or scholarship funds for military families.
Charitable giving is ultimately a personal decision, but the way a gift is structured can shape both its impact on the organization you support and your own financial picture. If you hold appreciated stock and a veterans’ charity close to your heart, it may be worth talking with your tax professional before year end, since timing matters for gifts you hope to see reflected on this year’s return.
At James Investment, charitable giving is one piece of the broader planning conversations we have with clients, alongside retirement income, tax planning, and legacy goals. If honoring a veteran in your life through a gift like this is on your mind, we would welcome the conversation.
