Option 1 – you can give $10,000 from liquid cash on hand and receive a $10,000 deduction for tax planning purposes.
Option 2 – you can give the same $10,000. However, this time donate the highly appreciated stock. You get the same $10,000 deduction and never pay capital gains tax on these funds. The charity also doesn’t pay any gains when they sell the stock, as they are in an exempt class.
Option 3 – you do essentially the same thing as option 2. But, for those who want numerous charities to benefit you can gift to a Donor Advised Fund, rather than directly to a charity.