Quick Tip: The IRS Discount Rate Election Statement – Some Donors Need It!

Sometimes, to maximize a planned gift donor’s tax benefits, you compute her deduction using the IRS discount rate for one of the two months prior to the month of gift. Did you know that if your donor wants to declare the deduction amount you have provided, she must include with her tax return an explicit election of the IRS discount rate used to compute the deduction? It’s true. Fortunately, you can use Planned Giving Manager (PGM) or PGM Anywhere to produce this election statement for your donor. The statement includes instructions on how to submit it properly to the IRS.

To produce the IRS discount rate election statement in PGM or PGM Anywhere:

1. Open Gift Date – IRS Discount Rate (PGM) or Date-Lives-Term (PGM Anywhere) and choose the IRS discount rate to be used to compute the deduction.
2. Open Presentations and choose IRS Discount Rate Election Statement in the Narratives section.
3. Print the IRS Discount Rate Election Statement.

Note that if the IRS discount rate you have selected is for the current month or is the same as the current month’s, PGM and PGM Anywhere will not create the statement because your donor will not need it.

If you have any questions, please contact PG Calc Client Services by calling 888-474-2252, or email support@pgcalc.com.

Marketing Corner: Master What Is Simple

I have encountered organizations who have sophisticated and even complex planned giving marketing programs. These organizations have invested a lot of time and money in their planned giving marketing, and not surprisingly, expect their programs to succeed. Sometimes this isn’t the case, and these organizations are faced with the challenge of fixing what might be broken. While these organizations might have mastered the complex, in their attempts to make their programs successful, they may not have mastered the simplest thing of all - starting fresh. Sometimes, looking at your marketing efforts with a beginner’s perspective can produce the desired results. That’s because doing so allows you to put aside the status quo, giving you the opportunity to step back and ask:

• Why are we doing this?
• What do we hope it will accomplish?
• How can we do it with the least amount of effort?
• What have we done that has worked well in the past?
• What have we done that has not worked well, why not, and should we consider it again?
• With whom are we communicating? Is that audience still valid? Are there other constituencies that would be better served?
• Does challenging the norm make for better results?
• What are our peers doing?

So often, marketing plans are just a “wash-rinse-repeat,” year after year. But sometimes, you need to take a fresh perspective, and start from the beginning. If you practice what is simple, you can achieve the most essential thing – the “beginner’s mindset,” where everything is new.

PGM Anywhere Release 6 Greatly Expands Features

PGM Anywhere 6 was released on September 19th, and includes many valuable new features. With the addition of these features, many of our clients won’t need to use Planned Giving Manager (PGM) anymore. They will be able to use PGM Anywhere to fulfill all their planned gift illustration and documentation needs. Enhancement highlights in the release include:

• Tax calculations based on entered federal and state income and capital gain tax rates
• Tax Schedule chart that provides full detail on taxable character of payments
• No Gift to Charity gift option that enables comparison of charitable options to keeping or selling and reinvesting the gift assets
• Return Based on Cost of Plan chart for comparing effective rates of return (First Year Analysis in PGM)
• Six new templates and seven updated templates that take advantage of new features
• Export to Excel
• Advanced investment assumptions: % tax exempt, % qualified dividends, and % asset turnover

PGM Anywhere is available to PGM clients for no additional charge. If you have any questions, please contact PG Calc Client Services by calling 888-474-2252, or email support@pgcalc.com.

PG Calc Webinar Schedule Set for 2019

We are thrilled to offer our monthly webinar series once again in 2019. We have our roster of presenters, topics, and dates in place. See them here.

Along with presentations from PG Calc’s expert staff, we are excited to offer new presentations from Russell James, Professor of Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech University, Beth Ridout, Director of Estate Administration for the Nature Conservancy, and Wendy Chou, Senior Philanthropic Planner at Oregon Community Foundation.

See You in Las Vegas at CGP Conference 2018

The National Association of Charitable Gift Planners is hosting their annual conference this year in Las Vegas on October 17th-19th. PG Calc is pleased to be both sponsor of the Planned Giving Tech Track and to have several attendees present. Come find us (and our unicorns) in booths 18 & 19.  We’re happy to discuss both unicorns and PG Calc’s industry leading products and services. We look forward to seeing you there!

PG Calc Provides Teachers College with First-Rate Client Services

Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education, health, and psychology in New York City. Founded in 1887, Teachers College is the oldest graduate school of education in the United States.

According to Mary Amoon-Hickey, Associate Director of Development, Teachers College has benefited from planned gifts since 1915, when its founder, Grace Hoadley Dodge, made the first bequest of an endowment that is still in existence. Today, TC has a thriving planned giving program which includes bequests, a charitable gift annuity program, several trusts, and a Pooled Income Fund.

Mary had this to say about PG Calc:

“We have been using PG Calc's Planned Giving Manager software for the past 18 years. We use it to create accurate and compelling gift proposals for our Charitable Gift Annuity program and other gift planning.

What I appreciate about PG Calc is their first-rate customer service. Whenever we have questions or issues, they are the definition of responsiveness, and always provide the very best service. The customer service representatives at PG Calc are friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend their services to anyone. ”