Donate a Business
Turn Business Value Into Lasting Impact.
Closely held company interests, LLC and partnership interests, and selected operating businesses — reviewed with the specialized tax, securities and governance work such gifts genuinely require.
Request a Confidential Business Gift ReviewA gift of an ownership interest is the most document-intensive review we conduct, and the one most dependent on your own advisers. Entity type, transfer restrictions, other owners, debt, litigation and timing all shape whether a gift is possible, and specialized tax, securities, governance and unrelated-business-income analysis happens before anything is accepted.
What we review in this category
What Mustard Farms is not
Mustard Farms is not an investment bank, a business broker, a placement agent or a tax adviser. We do not market your company, solicit buyers, negotiate terms on your behalf or advise you on the tax treatment of a gift. What happens here is a review of a proposed charitable gift of an ownership interest, conducted with professionals engaged for that purpose.
Specialized review these gifts require
A gift of a business interest triggers work that other asset classes do not: tax analysis of the entity type and the donor's basis, securities-law considerations for the transfer of a private interest, governance review of who must consent, and unrelated business income analysis where an operating interest would generate income taxable to a charity. S corporation interests and debt-financed or leveraged interests raise particular issues. These are examined before, not after, anything is accepted.
Transfer restrictions and other owners
Most closely held interests cannot simply be assigned. Buy-sell agreements, rights of first refusal, drag-along and tag-along provisions, consent requirements and transfer prohibitions in an operating agreement all govern whether a gift is even possible. We also ask whether the other owners know. A proposed gift that surprises a co-owner tends to end badly for everyone.
Timing and a pending sale
Timing relative to a signed letter of intent or a binding sale agreement carries significant tax consequences that are entirely your adviser's subject, not ours. Tell us where any sale process stands so the review reflects reality. We do not advise on that timing and will not characterize its tax effect.
Valuation
Valuation of a closely held interest is a qualified-appraisal matter belonging to the donor and the donor's adviser. Mustard Farms never values a donor's deduction. We ask about valuation history only to understand the asset being proposed.
Confidentiality
Business reviews are handled by a small group, and information is shared only with professionals engaged on that specific matter. Nothing is discussed publicly, and no business is named in any material we publish.
Working with your advisers
The most productive business gift conversations begin with the owner's attorney and CPA already involved. Advisers may open a review directly, and we will confirm the owner's authority before proceeding.
Information the review requires
- Entity type, state of formation and the structure above and below it.
- The percentage interest proposed and whether it carries voting rights.
- Operating history: how long the business has run and what it does.
- Revenue range and profitability for the last three years.
- Debt, guarantees, lines of credit and any personal guarantee involved.
- Litigation, claims, regulatory matters and unresolved tax issues.
- Other owners, and whether they know of and consent to a proposed gift.
- Transfer restrictions: buy-sell agreements, rights of first refusal, consent requirements.
- Valuation history, including any prior appraisal or 409A work.
- Buyer interest, letters of intent, or a sale process already underway.
- Desired timing and the reason the timing matters.
Questions specific to this category
A Mustard Farms initiative supporting approved Commissary Grant programs.
Organizational information, governance and the full review process are published at MustardFarms.org. Program information is at CommissaryGrant.com.
Mustard Farms does not provide legal, tax, appraisal or financial advice. Proposed gifts are subject to legal, financial, title, environmental, operational and governing-body review and written acceptance. Donors should consult independent advisers.
Request a Confidential Business Gift Review