Selling appreciated stock and donating the proceeds can benefit your favorite charity and net you a tax deduction. But there’s a downside — you’ll still owe capital gains tax on your assets’ appreciation.

You have another option. Instead of selling stock that has appreciated in value since you acquired it, you may want to consider donating your shares directly to the charity. By using this strategy, you can donate the full value of your stock without being taxed on the gain.

Generally, you can claim an income-tax deduction for the amount of the asset’s fair market value when donating securities you’ve held longer than one year. And because you haven’t sold the shares, you won’t have to realize the gain or pay capital gains tax on the appreciation. The charity also benefits — your donation is larger than it would have been if you had sold the stock and donated the after-tax proceeds.

While you could donate securities with unrealized short-term gains, your tax deduction would typically be limited to your cost basis.