Donating Stock Fuels Research Discoveries, and It’s Surprisingly Simple
The stock market continues to perform strongly, and now is an ideal time to consider leveraging your successful investments to advance lifesaving research by donating appreciated stock.
We spoke with Adrienne Maxwell, an emeritus member of VCU Massey Cancer Center’s community advisory board, to learn why she recently donated stock to support women’s cancer research.
Adrienne enjoyed a long and successful career in banking. At one point, she managed investments and oversaw estate planning as a vice president at Citibank. She and her late husband Jack have long supported medical research. Initially, they were interested in supporting neurological research after each losing a parent to Parkinson’s disease. Adrienne also found inspiration to give back from one of her college roommates, who worked with an organization that rode horseback to provide healthcare services to underserved populations in rural Kentucky.
“I wanted to be able to leave a legacy and help build something that would help everyone — not just me and not just my neighbor,” Adrienne said.
Her connection to Massey came at a fortuitous time. When Adrienne and her late husband Jack had relocated to Richmond, Adrienne was searching for a way to use her talents in financial services and business development for a good cause. For her, medical research resonated as an important area to support.
At the time, Morgan Massey was charting his vision for Massey’s new community advisory board. He hoped to establish the board as a source of philanthropic expertise from the community to help fuel cancer research and treatment. Morgan recruited Adrienne to lead the development committee, a role which helped set the board up for future success. As Adrienne says, everything she did was about creating awareness of the great care available on the MCV Campus and building a constituency of support for the lifesaving work of cancer researchers.
One event she helped found — the Women & Wellness Forum — continues to educate women on healthcare options in Richmond and raise funds to support women's cancer research at Massey. The event is a beloved and anticipated annual tradition. Over the years, it has raised nearly $5 million for women's cancer research, inspired thousands of attendees and welcomed impressive keynote speakers.
“This year provided the perfect opportunity,” Adrienne said. “For 25 years I’ve been asking people to be on the committee, to give money, to work hard to sell tickets, so I felt I should make a $25,000 gift for this special 25th anniversary.”
She hopes her gift will inspire others to support Massey and women’s cancer research. Adrienne recently established a charitable gift annuity to provide future support for Massey.
“I was brought up with the idea that you do have a responsibility to help other people,” Adrienne said. “Medical research really fits that bill because those discoveries can help everyone and make a vast difference.”
As a former head of estate planning, Adrienne encourages people to consider giving stock, especially for the tax benefits.
“To me, there’s no reason not to do it,” Adrienne said. “The process was very simple: All I did was sign a paper and give the money manager for the investment account permission to turn the stock over to the MCV Foundation to sell.”
Beyond the impact on patient care, research and education for the MCV Campus, the benefits of giving stock include the following:
- Donors avoid paying capital gains tax on the sale of appreciated stock.
- Donors also qualify for a federal income tax deduction for the full fair market value of the stock gift.
The MCV Foundation is here to make the process as easy as possible. Learn how you can make a gift of stock to support the MCV Campus by visiting our securities page or contacting Brian Thomas, vice president and chief development officer.
