Short answer: yes, in practice you can accept shares of stock for a membership, but Altru won’t make it a one-step transaction. Stock gifts were designed around donations, and memberships come with benefits and a fixed price. Those two facts pull in different directions, and how you record the gift has to account for both.
Below is how membership and development staff usually handle it, what to check in your own database, and the gift-acknowledgment details that tend to get missed.
Why this isn’t a normal membership sale
A typical membership transaction is simple: a set price, paid by card, cash, or check, and the term starts. A stock gift adds three complications:
- The value isn’t fixed. Shares are worth whatever the market says on the day they land in your brokerage account, which is rarely the exact membership price.
- The money arrives later and through someone else. The donor tells their broker to transfer shares, your broker receives them, and your finance office sells them, sometimes days or weeks apart. The front desk and membership staff usually see none of this.
- Benefits affect the tax receipt. A donor who gives stock usually expects a contribution acknowledgment. If they also receive membership benefits, those benefits generally reduce the deductible amount, the same way they do for a cash gift above the membership price.
Check what your Altru setup allows
Before choosing a method, look at the payment methods available to you on revenue and on membership transactions. Many Altru databases have a stock or property payment method available for donations, but whether it can be applied directly to a membership sale depends on your configuration and version, and I wouldn’t assume it. The quickest way to find out is to try it in a sandbox or training environment, or ask Blackbaud support. Also ask your finance office how they want stock gifts coded, because the general ledger mapping for stock is often different from cash.
Three ways organizations record it
1. Record the stock as a donation, then apply a membership
This is the cleanest option for most organizations. Enter the stock gift as a donation on the constituent record using whatever stock or “other” payment method your finance team uses, valued according to your gift policy. Then add the membership separately, either as a complimentary or benefit-linked membership, or as a membership paid from part of that gift if your setup supports splitting revenue between designations.
The advantage is that your donation reports, stock totals, and acknowledgment letters all stay accurate. The drawback is that membership revenue reports may show the membership at zero unless you split the gift, so agree in advance on how membership revenue should be counted.
2. Split one gift between membership and contribution
If the shares are worth more than the membership, some organizations record one gift and split it: the membership price goes to membership revenue, and the remainder goes to the appropriate fund as a donation. This mirrors how many organizations handle a member who writes a check for more than the dues amount. Confirm with finance that a split stock gift posts correctly to both GL accounts before you rely on it.
3. Wait for the proceeds
Some finance offices prefer to wait until the shares are sold and then treat the cash as the payment. That’s simple for accounting, but it can leave a member waiting for their card, and the gift date on the record no longer matches when the donor actually gave. If you go this way, note the transfer date on the record and consider starting the membership when the shares arrive, not when they’re sold.
Valuation and acknowledgment details
Your development or finance office should already have a stock gift policy, and membership staff should follow it rather than make up their own. Points to settle:
- Valuation date. For publicly traded stock, many organizations use the date the shares arrive in their account, with a specific method for valuing them that day. The sale price is often different, and that difference is usually handled as a gain or loss in your accounting, not as a change to the donor’s gift amount. Ask your accountant which method you use.
- Benefit value. If the donor receives membership benefits, the acknowledgment should reflect them according to your organization’s standard practice for quid pro quo gifts. Your tax advisor is the right person to confirm the wording; membership staff shouldn’t guess at it.
- Who the member is. Shares sometimes come from a family trust, donor-advised fund, or a spouse’s account. Make sure the membership lands on the right constituent or household, and be aware that many donor-advised funds don’t allow grants that pay for benefits like membership. Check with the fund sponsor before you accept one for dues.
Make it repeatable
Stock-for-membership comes up rarely, which is why it gets handled differently every time. Write a short internal procedure that names who receives the broker notice, who enters the gift in Altru, how the membership is added, and who sends the acknowledgment. Include a note on the constituent record so anyone answering a call from that member later knows how the membership was paid.
It also helps to give members a clear path. Tell anyone who asks to contact your development office before transferring shares, since unidentified stock transfers are a common headache: the shares arrive with no donor name, and someone has to trace them back.
Quick answers
Can a member pay for a membership with stock through the website?
Generally no. Stock transfers happen between brokerages, so online checkout isn’t involved. Staff record the gift and membership once the shares arrive.
What if the shares are worth less than the membership price?
Decide on a policy. Some organizations ask the donor to pay the difference by card; others record a lower membership level that matches the value.
