Making a gift of appreciated securities and wiring cash from a US bank to Williams is now easier than ever!

Securities Held by a Bank or Broker
A. If your securities are with a bank or broker, you can transfer your shares to the College by Depository Trust Company (DTC) wire by completing our online transfer letter, and sending it to your broker and submitting a fax copy to Susan A. Morin, Trust Assistant, If you would like to access the letter, please click here. Before making your gift, you may wish to review the information provided below "Of Special Interest" to determine whether you should discuss your gift with the College prior to submitting online. Sue may be reached at 413/597-4118 or Kathleen L. Therrien, Trust Administrator, may be reached at 413/597-4259. Their address is Investment Office, Williams College, Hopkins Hall, P. O. Box 67, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267, email :securities@williams.edu

The DTC method allows Williams to put your donated funds to work more quickly and to realize savings on commissions, thus making your gift more beneficial to the College. (Please note the gift of securities is complete when you, and your transfer agent, have delivered the securities to Williams - this means that you no longer have control of them. Merely instructing your transfer agent to complete the gift is not enough to satisfy the IRS legal requirement.) The College absorbs all transfer costs.

Securities Held by You
B. If the certificates are in your possession, mail them to Williams with a stock power. If you would like to print a stock power from your computer, please go to the on-line power form by clicking here.

The certificates should be left unsigned.

The stock power should be signed and left blank (the form will be filled in by Williams). Your signature should be witnessed, but it is not necessary to have it notarized or certified.

If the certificates are for more shares than you wish to give, please see Split certificate below.

The following sample letter of transmittal should be sent to Sue at the address above.

I,__________ wish to give Williams College stock certificate number(s) #________, #________ and #________, totaling _______ shares of common stock of the _________ Company Inc. registered in my name. This gift is to be used by Williams for _______________ purpose.

Use two envelopes. Place the certificates in one envelope and the stock power in the other. A copy of the transmittal letter should be placed in each envelope.

Of Special Interest:

Gift Value - The gift value of the securities is the mean of the high and low price on the date one of the following occurs:

The securities are transferred via DTC to Williams; or

The securities are placed in the President and Trustees of Williams College account at your brokerage firm (transfers to a bank's shared charitable gift account do not accomplish the transfer), or

The securities and stock powers are hand-delivered (date of receipt), mailed through private or US Postal delivery service (date of receipt), or mailed through US Postal regular mail (date of later postmark) in negotiable form to Williams or its agent.

Gift Splitting - If you would like your gift of stock divided among a variety of purposes at the College, just advise Sue when making your gift and the stock will be allocated according to your wishes. If one of the purposes is a life income gift, please contact Kathy before initiating the process.

Depreciated Securities - In general, it is not advisable to give securities that are presently worth less than you paid for them. If the sale of stocks or bonds would result in a deductible loss, it is usually to your advantage to sell them to establish a tax loss and then donate the proceeds to Williams.

Split Certificate - You may have a certificate for more shares than you want to give to Williams. If so, send the certificate and a signed stock power in the manner described above. (Do not state the number of shares to be transferred on the stock power.) Include in your letter accompanying the shares, your social security number and instructions on the number of shares you are donating. Williams will follow your instructions and send back a new certificate for the remaining shares registered in the name of the owner of the original certificate. The new certificate can take up to six weeks to complete. (Williams cannot reissue the certificate to anyone other than the original owner of the certificate). If the transaction is handled through your broker, the broker can arrange for splitting the certificate appropriately.

Short-term Appreciation - It is usually inadvisable to make a charitable gift of appreciated securities when your capital gain is short-term (i.e., you have owned the securities twelve months or less). Such a gift is deductible only in the amount of its cost basis, not its market value. The College's receipt states market value no matter how long the shares have been held.

Limits on Deductibility - The ceiling on deductibility of your gift of appreciated securities is 30% of adjusted gross income. However, you may carry over any excess as a deduction for as many as five additional years.

Closely Held Stock - Making a gift of closely held stock to Williams will allow you to gain a charitable deduction for the fair market value of the stock and you escape the capital gain tax on any appreciation in the value of the stock. Such gift proposals must be reviewed by the Investment Office before the College accepts them. (NOTE: Donors need to obtain a "qualified appraisal" in order to satisfy IRS regulations.)

Tender Offers-- If you have stock subject to a tender offer, please be sure to consult with your tax advisor before making a gift.

Mutual Fund Shares - Transferring appreciated mutual fund shares provides the same tax benefits as a gift of appreciated securities, except there are a number of additional steps involved in the transfer and it can take up to six weeks to complete. If you are interested in this type of transfer, please call Kathy at (413)-597-4259.

Cash Wires - If you wish to transfer cash (minimum gift $1,000) to Williams from a US bank account (please contact Sue on foreign account transfers), you can easily transfer to the College by sending a letter to your banker and submitting a copy to Sue. If you would like to access the on-line cash transfer letter, please click here. If you would prefer to discuss your gift first with the College, please contact Sue.

Giving Securities While Retaining Life Income - Securities can also be used to fund a life income gift that will provide income to you and/or beneficiaries you designate for life or a term of years. There are several plans available and the tax advantages vary according to the arrangement you choose. If you would like further information on life income gifts, please contact gift.planning@williams.edu. or go to the planned giving website http://www.williams.edu/alumni/campaign/ways2give/plannedgiving/