Charity Portfolio Update August 2026: McDonald's Wins the First Vote – the First Purchase Is Here

The community charity portfolio has finally started! You voted on the first stock, the first purchase is done – and it was really close: McDonald's prevailed against Realty Income by just three votes. Since 27 July 2026, the first five shares are in the portfolio. In this update we look at the vote result in detail, take a look at the portfolio on Parqet and at the dividend calendar – and you can immediately make suggestions for the next purchase again.

As always up front: this is not investment advice and not a buy recommendation. I only show my personal opinion and my personal investments. I'm responsible for my money, you're responsible for yours – always make your own decision.

The vote result: it hardly gets closer

Up for the vote were the three most-named stocks from your comments: PepsiCo, Realty Income and McDonald's. Voting happened in two ways – via comment likes on YouTube and via a story poll on Instagram. Here's how the result looked:

• YouTube: Realty Income was clearly ahead with 51 likes, McDonald's got 28, PepsiCo 24
• Instagram: around 1,000 people saw the story, just under 250 voted – and here McDonald's really turned it up: 102 votes for McDonald's, 76 for Realty Income, 65 for PepsiCo

Added together, McDonald's won by a razor-thin roughly 130 to 127 votes against Realty Income – Realty Income's YouTube lead wasn't enough in the end. PepsiCo was last on both platforms and thus clearly out. Three votes difference: it could hardly have been closer, and that's exactly why every single vote really counts in this project.

The first purchase: five McDonald's shares in the portfolio

Right after the vote, on 27 July 2026 I bought five McDonald's shares for the charity portfolio. At the time of the video the portfolio stood at around €1,186 – with €21.75 in price gains, so about 1.87% in profit.

I share the entire portfolio live via Parqet* – you can look in at any time, either directly at finlen.de/spenden-depot or via my website: under Portfolios you'll now find the new dividend charity portfolio alongside my dividend, crypto and P2P portfolios.

As a reminder of how the project works: every month I invest €1,000 of my own money, the community votes on which stock is bought – and the dividends from the portfolio are donated. Where to, we also decide together.

A look at the dividend calendar: when does the first dividend arrive?

Naturally there's not much yet – we've only made one purchase. But the start is made:

• September 2026: McDonald's pays the first dividend – a symbolic 8.5 cents, because the position only entered the portfolio shortly before the record date
• December 2026: here €8.48 is already expected
• 2027: as things stand, just under €35 is already in the calendar – and not a single further purchase is counted in yet

Since €1,000 is added every month and there will surely be stocks with higher dividend yields at times, the expected dividend should rise pretty quickly. And that's exactly the plan: this project is meant to run for many years – ideally to the end of my life – so we can donate together permanently as a community.

When will the first donation be made?

You mostly favoured donating quarterly to semi-annually at first, while the amounts are small – it's simply not worth transferring €8. By the end of September not much will have accumulated, so the plan is: the first donation will probably be in December, in time for the Christmas season – by then about €30 to €50 should be in the pot. Next year it'll be significantly more; by the end of 2027 it could already be €500 to €600 per quarter.

There'll be a separate video for the first donation: you make suggestions for where the money should go – local clubs, animal shelters, children's aid, whatever matters to you – and then we vote democratically again. A few cool donation ideas already came in in the comments, by the way.

Now it's your turn: suggestions for the next purchase

The next round works just like the first:

1. Make suggestions: write in the comments under the current video which dividend stocks should be bought next – one stock, two, or a list of ten. Last month, suggestions included Main Street Capital, Realty Income, LTC Properties and AGNC
2. Determine the top 3: after about a week I add up all mentions – the three most frequent go into the vote
3. Vote: again via comment likes on YouTube and in parallel via a poll on Instagram

They don't have to be high-dividend stocks, by the way: stocks with a low but strongly growing dividend – Microsoft, Visa, Mastercard and co. – also fit the concept. This time I'll throw two or three suggestions into the comments myself too.

Update: the second purchase is now done

A little outlook beyond the video: the second position has since landed in the portfolio too – on 17 August 2026, 50 shares of VICI Properties were added for €1,145. That now puts a good €2,300 in the charity portfolio, split almost exactly 50/50 between McDonald's and VICI. You can see the current status with all purchases live as always at finlen.de/spenden-depot:

You'll find all articles in the series in the Charity Portfolio category – from the concept through the first stock comparison to this update. See you at the next vote!