How to Donate Stock from Fidelity to a Charity (2026)

Short answer: Fidelity needs your request to gift shares in writing. For a charity's account outside Fidelity, use Fidelity's Transfer Shares as a Gift form. Stock Donator prepares the forms and shows you the steps for Fidelity. Fidelity should have the form two weeks ahead, by Thursday 17 December for a 31 December 2026 deadline, before Stock Donator's 24 December cutoff.

How do you give stock from Fidelity to a charity in five steps?

1. Ask the charity how it accepts stock. If it has its own brokerage account, ask for its transfer instructions. If it has none, it can accept stock through Stock Donator without one.
2. Tell the recipient what is coming before the shares move. For a gift through Stock Donator, tell Stock Donator what is coming, online through the charity's Stock Donator link or on a paper form. For a charity's own brokerage account, tell the charity. Give the stock, the number of shares and your name. A transfer sent without notice can arrive without the donor's name.
3. Get the form and the DTC details. For a gift through Stock Donator, Stock Donator prepares the forms and gives you transfer instructions, including the DTC details; for Fidelity, it shows you the steps to sign and send the form. For a charity's own account outside Fidelity, fill in Fidelity's Transfer Shares as a Gift form (for nonretirement accounts) with the receiving firm's name, its DTC number, the account number and the "For the Benefit of" line.
4. Sign the form and send it to Fidelity. For a gift through Stock Donator, follow the steps Stock Donator shows; if a Medallion signature guarantee is needed, Stock Donator tells you what to do. For a gift to a charity's own account outside Fidelity, use Fidelity's Transfer Shares as a Gift form. A transfer over $19,000 on that form needs a Medallion signature guarantee, and you can upload it at Fidelity.com/upload-Transfer-Gift.
5. Keep the receipt. Keep the one from the charity or, for a gift through Stock Donator, the receipt Stock Donator sends. You need it for your tax records if you itemize.

What does Fidelity's gift form ask for?

Fidelity's page says: "Your request to gift shares from your account must be in writing." For a charity's brokerage account outside Fidelity, it points you to the Transfer Shares as a Gift form for nonretirement accounts. For a gift through Stock Donator, Stock Donator prepares the forms and gives you transfer instructions, including the DTC details, and for Fidelity shows you the steps to sign and send the form. We read the page and the form (revision 03/25) on 13 November 2026.

The form "cannot be processed without signature(s) and date(s)." A DTC transfer is the electronic transfer of shares between brokerages, and the DTC number tells Fidelity which firm receives them.

The same form is not for every account. If the charity's receiving account is at Fidelity, Fidelity points to its Transfer Between Existing Fidelity Accounts form. The gift form also says: "Do NOT use this form for retirement accounts". For an IRA, ask Fidelity.

What if the charity has no brokerage account?

The three AI answers we read for this question assume the charity has its own brokerage account and can hand you an account number and a DTC number. A charity does not need one to accept stock.

With Stock Donator, the nonprofit never holds the shares and never opens a brokerage account. The charity signs up once with its EIN, which takes about five minutes. Stock Donator receives the shares, sells them and pays the charity. Fidelity is one of the brokerages donors can give from, alongside Schwab, Vanguard, E*TRADE and Merrill Edge.

Should the charity just open a brokerage account? Our view, after processing gifts since 2011: a small nonprofit rarely has someone to watch and sell shares, the value can drop while the stock sits, and accounts get forgotten when staff leave. If you work at a nonprofit, our guide to accepting stock donations covers the setup.

How does a Fidelity gift through Stock Donator work?

There are two ways to give, and both start with the charity's Stock Donator page.

Online. Click the charity's link, pick the stock, ETF or mutual fund and the number of shares, and confirm. Stock Donator generates the required forms. A few firms, Fidelity among them, need the donor to sign and send the form first, and Stock Donator shows you the steps.

Through Fidelity directly. Tell Stock Donator what is coming: the stock, the shares and the charity, online through the charity's Stock Donator link or on a paper form. Then hand Fidelity the ready-to-use transfer instructions, including the DTC details.

If your transfer needs a Medallion signature guarantee, Stock Donator tells you exactly what to do. On either path, Stock Donator never asks for your brokerage login. The how it works page shows each stage of the gift.

Why tell the recipient before the shares move?

The most common problem we see is a donor who sends shares to the DTC number without telling Stock Donator first. A transfer sent without notice can arrive without the donor's name, so the gift shows up as "mystery stock": shares with no donor attached.

Fill in the donor claim form with the gift details, and Stock Donator matches the gift. Telling Stock Donator first avoids the problem, and it lets the charity thank you by name.

How long does a Fidelity stock gift take?

Fidelity's page says processing times for gifts "vary, based on the specific security and how it is sent or delivered." It gives a figure only for gifts between two Fidelity accounts: 1 to 4 business days.

Two dates matter for a 2026 gift:

• Fidelity: the form says Fidelity "should receive this form at least two weeks prior to any deadline (e.g., year-end)." For 31 December 2026, two weeks earlier is Thursday 17 December.
• Stock Donator: asks for gifts on or before 24 December 2026. A gift through Stock Donator usually takes 5 to 10 days, sometimes less. Later gifts are still processed but may not complete before 31 December.

So send your Fidelity form in early December, not the last week. Our stock donation deadline guide compares other firms' 2026 dates.

Which Fidelity shares should you give?

Give shares you have held more than one year that have gone up. IRS Publication 526 (2025) says you can generally deduct the fair market value of such property at the time of the gift. For shares held a year or less, the deduction is the fair market value minus the short-term gain. Our guide to the 2026 charitable deduction changes covers what changed for 2026.

A worked example: shares bought for $100 and now worth $1,000, given directly, give a $1,000 deduction, and you pay no capital gains tax on the $900 gain. Sold first, the gain is taxed before you give.

The form's optional lot fields let you pick which lot goes. Without them, Fidelity uses your default lot disposal method, which may not pick your most appreciated shares.

For tax year 2026, IRS Tax Topic 506 says people who do not itemize may deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 if filing jointly) of cash gifts. A gift of stock is not cash, so you still need to itemize to deduct it. Our guide to the IRS rules for donating stock covers the rest.

Should you give through Fidelity Charitable instead?

Fidelity Charitable is "an independent public charity with a donor-advised fund program." Its timelines page says stocks in a Fidelity brokerage account are "Generally transferred and processed same day" if the instructions arrive at least 15 minutes before market close.

A donor-advised fund is a different vehicle. The money sits in the fund, and its investments can go up or down. Giving directly means the gift goes to the charity you choose, rather than into a fund. Either way, give the shares that went up and sell the ones that went down. Our comparison of donor-advised funds and direct stock gifts goes further.

Questions donors ask about Fidelity stock gifts

What is Fidelity's DTC number?

Fidelity lists 0226 as its DTC number for shares sent into a Fidelity account. For a gift through Stock Donator, use the DTC details in the transfer instructions Stock Donator gives you. For a charity's own brokerage account, use the receiving firm's DTC number from the charity's stock instructions.

Can I donate stock from Fidelity online?

Fidelity requires the gift request in writing, and you can upload the signed Transfer Shares as a Gift form at Fidelity.com/upload-Transfer-Gift. Through Stock Donator you start the gift online, and for Fidelity Stock Donator shows you the steps to sign and send the form.

Can I give fractional shares from Fidelity?

Not as stock. Fidelity's form says stocks "MUST be transferred as whole shares." Only mutual fund positions can move as partial share amounts.

Can I donate mutual funds from my Fidelity account?

On Fidelity's gift form, mutual fund shares can go only if the receiving firm is ACAT eligible. Stock Donator accepts publicly traded stocks, ETFs and mutual funds.

When do I need a Medallion signature guarantee?

Fidelity's gift form requires one for a transfer over $19,000. You can get one from most banks and credit unions. A notary stamp is not a Medallion signature guarantee. If you complete the form at a Fidelity Investor Center, you do not need one.

Who do I call at Fidelity about the form?

Fidelity lists 800-343-3548 on its gifting page and on the form.

Ask your charity to accept stock through Stock Donator

Start from your charity's donate-stock link, choose your Fidelity shares and start the gift. If your charity has no link, ask it to accept stock through Stock Donator. Donate stock now

General information, not tax advice. Talk to your tax adviser.