As Israel approaches the end of the 2026 tax year, a growing number of entrepreneurs, executives and investors are giving to charity not with cash, but with shares from their investment portfolios.
Stock donations through Jgive, Israel’s largest giving platform, increased 30-fold between 2023 and 2025, according to figures provided by the organization. More than NIS 150 million worth of shares have been donated through the platform since late 2022, with the proceeds ultimately supporting more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations.
The trend has continued this year. In August and September alone, Jgive recorded three times as many stock donations as during the same period in 2025, as investors increasingly incorporate charitable giving into year-end financial and tax planning.
For holders of shares that have risen substantially in value, donating the securities directly can offer advantages over selling them first and then donating cash. Under Israeli tax rules, qualifying donations of appreciated securities may be eligible for an exemption from capital gains tax on the appreciation, alongside the charitable tax credit available to eligible donors, generally 35% for individuals and subject to statutory conditions and limits.
That means an investor sitting on a large unrealized gain may be able to transfer the shares directly to charity without first triggering a taxable capital gain, allowing more of the asset’s value to reach nonprofit organizations. The structure is particularly relevant to technology founders, senior executives and investors whose wealth is often concentrated in shares rather than cash.
About a quarter of stock donations processed through Jgive involved shares in technology companies, including Nvidia, Apple and Alphabet, Google’s parent company. Among the more prominent contributors in 2026 were Nachman Ben-Shaaya, a senior executive at Israeli defense technology company Next Vision, who donated shares worth about NIS 10 million, and businessman Avraham Fox, a shareholder in Fox Group, who donated approximately NIS 2.5 million.
The figures suggest the practice is becoming more systematic rather than remaining a one-time tax maneuver. More than half of those who have donated shares through the platform have done so more than once, according to Jgive, indicating that some investors are building securities donations into their longer-term financial planning.
More than NIS 450 million expected in 2026
The stock-donation boom is part of a broader expansion in charitable giving processed through Jgive. The platform expects more than NIS 450 million in donations to pass through it in 2026, up from more than NIS 400 million last year.
About 280,000 donors contributed through Jgive in 2025, while international donations totaled roughly NIS 125 million, or about 31% of all contributions. Thousands of nonprofit organizations now raise funds through the platform.
Another growing part of the market is donor-advised funds, or DAFs, which allow donors to set aside money or assets for charitable purposes, receive applicable tax benefits at the time of contribution and recommend grants to eligible nonprofit organizations later.
Jgive says thousands of donors have already placed money into its donor-advised funds. Its Platinum giving framework alone recorded about NIS 302 million in contributions in 2025.
Jgive founder and CEO Ori Ben Shlomo
(Photo: Arik Sultan)
Such structures have long been a significant part of philanthropy in the United States, where charitable giving is often integrated into wealth management, investment strategy and estate planning. Their growing use in Israel points toward a similar shift, with philanthropy becoming more closely tied to the management of financial assets rather than relying solely on disposable income.
Jgive founder and CEO Ori Ben Shlomo has previously highlighted the growing role of appreciated securities in Israeli charitable giving, particularly among technology professionals, entrepreneurs and investors. While donating shares is already well established in the United States, Israel’s market for structured philanthropy remains comparatively young.
The numbers nevertheless come with an important caveat. Jgive’s data reflects only donations processed through its own platform and does not represent Israel’s entire philanthropic sector. The sharp increase in stock donations may also be influenced by a relatively small number of wealthy donors making particularly large contributions.
Even so, the growth points to a changing relationship between Israel’s capital markets and its nonprofit sector. As more personal wealth is accumulated in publicly traded shares and other financial assets, charitable giving is increasingly moving beyond the traditional cash donation and becoming another part of investment and tax planning.