Cash or Appreciated Property
Cash - checks, money market accounts, savings accounts, Certificates of deposit, appreciated stocks, and bonds can be used to make gifts.
Appreciated Property - stock, bonds, and mutual funds, and real or personal property can be used to make a major gift. Gifts of appreciated property can be land, patents, royalties, farm animals, crops, collections, income from Charitable Lead Trusts, dividends, cash value of life insurance, and withdrawals from retirement plans are all assets which are generally used to make major planned gifts.
Endowment gifts - carry the restriction that the principal (the original gift amount) must always be preserved, but the charity is able to spend a portion of the income that is generated through the investment of the gift.