GiftWrap Quick Tip: Year End Update is Required in GiftWrap

GiftWrap data is maintained according to specific calendar years. Current-year payment information, as well as payment information for previous years, is generally available, but payment rows for future years are not yet created. This is because it’s impossible to predict which annuitants and beneficiaries will be alive in the coming years, and which ones will be deceased. As the current year draws to a close, a straightforward and necessary process is required in GiftWrap in order to review or process payments in a new calendar year. This process is also required to produce tax-reporting documents for the current year.

The function is called “Year End Update,” and it is found in the Actions menu. It’s very simple to run, but a word of caution: ideally, Year End Update should only be run after the Verify routine has been run and all errors have been resolved. With that in mind, the Year End Update function basically involves confirming that you are in a current year and that you want to update to the next calendar year. When this process is run, all payment rows for the new year will be created. In addition, it will now be possible to produce 1099-Rs for gift annuitants and K-1s for pooled income fund participants for the previous calendar year. Generally speaking, the Year End Update process takes only a minute or two, except for very large programs. GiftWrap clients can find more information in the “Year End Operations and 1099-R Instructions” sent on December 11.

Contact our Client Services team at 888-474-2252 or support@pgcalc.com if we can help.

PG Calc Blog Post: From the IRS – Donors Can Give More and Pay Less in 2024

The IRS has announced increases in tax exemptions, qualified charitable distribution (QCD) gift limits, and standard deductions for 2024. Gift planners will want to pay particular attention to how these changes impact their donors.

Read the blog post . . .

Things We Are Following: Proposed Donor Advised Fund Regulations

On November 14, 2023, the Treasury Department published proposed regulations on potential taxable distributions from donor advised funds. These proposed rules are intended to define when a distribution from a DAF may be subject to taxes. The proposed regulations are open for comment until January 16, 2024.

The Pension Protection Act of 2006 (“PPA”) added rules governing interactions between donors, their advisors, and charitable grant recipients. The proposed regulations define what transactions can trigger excise taxes on DAF grants that are considered taxable distributions. The proposed regulations expand on some important definitions relating to DAFs and what kinds of accounts are considered DAFs. For example, the regulations clarify that scholarship funds and disaster relief funds are not DAFs so long as they meet certain requirements.

Some items of particular interest to gift planners aren’t covered in these proposed regulations. In particular, gift planners would like more guidance on when a distribution from a DAF provides more than incidental benefit to a donor-advisor and whether a distribution from a DAF can be used to satisfy a personal pledge. (In Notice 2017-73 the IRS sought comments on several approaches it was considering regarding DAFs and suggested that personal pledges from DAFs might be permissible under certain circumstances. There has been no subsequent action and, although the Notice provides an indication of a position the Service was considering, the Notice does not have the authority of Treasury Regulations.)

New ACGA Rates Will Be Added to PG Calc Software When Made Public

The American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) announced on November 21 that it will be increasing its suggested maximum annuity rates, effective January 1, 2024. The ACGA expects to release the new rates to its members on December 18 and to the general public on December 26. If the ACGA does release its rates on these dates, PG Calc plans to update its software – PGM Anywhere, PGM desktop, and GiftCalcs – on December 26. We will update Marketing Services websites at this time, as well. Please contact your Marketing Services relationship manager if you would like to discuss additional gift annuity marketing opportunities.

We will send an email to all PGM Anywhere and PGM desktop clients the day the ACGA releases its new rates to its members. Again, we expect that date to be December 18. The email will provide guidance on how to perform illustrations using the new rates before your software has been updated to include them. We expect to announce in an email on December 26 that we have updated our software with the new rates.

Year-End Giving: Deciphering Gift Dates

It’s that time of year, when some donors frazzled by holiday planning leave their charitable giving to the last minute.

To help ensure that their end-of-year gifts count for 2023, we developed a primer on how to determine gift date. In it, we cover gifts of:

• Cash (check and wire)
• Stock
• Mutual Funds
• Credit Card
• IRA QCD

Read our Knowledge Base article on Deciphering Gift Dates.

Here for the Holidays

Each year, the holiday season occurs exactly when planned giving activity is at its busiest. PG Calc has your back! Rest assured that our Client Services group will be working and available during the last two weeks of December, save for Christmas (and New Year’s Day). Don’t hesitate to call us if you need help with our software or if you simply want to discuss a particular gift plan.

During the last two weeks of December, we will be available during our regular weekday support hours from 8:30 am – 6:00 pm ET, except for December 25 and January 1.

Contact Client Services at 888-474-2252 or support@pgcalc.com.

HopeHealth Sees Results from Partnership with PG Calc’s Marketing Services

“We are a small and busy shop with no dedicated planned giving staff. We started working with PG Calc’s Marketing Services almost four years ago. We now have a planned giving website, brochures, a donor newsletter, and recently surveyed our donors—all to start creating awareness among our constituents that we could accept and be good stewards of planned gifts. We’re having conversations and are beginning to see the results. We’ll never be Harvard, but we feel great that we are laying the foundation for future growth.”

-- Suzanne Fortier, CFRE
Chief Philanthropy Officer
HopeHealth

Learn more about HopeHealth.

Learn more about PG Calc’s Marketing Services.