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eRate Newsletter | September 16, 2024

IRS DISCOUNT RATE: OCTOBER 4.4%

Underrated: Falling Interest Rates and Charitable Gift Annuities

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We’ve been hearing quite a bit about the Federal Reserve system (“the Fed”) likely cutting the Fed Funds rate – the key interest rate that it controls – at its next Open Market Committee meeting, which is September 17-18. When the Fed cuts the Fed Funds rate, other interest rates tend to follow suit – especially short-term and medium-term interest rates. And that brings us to the topic of charitable gift annuities (CGAs).

Our client organizations are asking, should they be promoting gift annuities at current rates – so donors can “get in” before an overall reduction in payout rates? That’s a great question and something worth talking about. 

           READ THE FULL ARTICLE        PRINT THE FULL ARTICLE

PG Calc FREE WEBINAR September 26

Qualified Charitable Distributions Revealed – FREE Q&A

Kara Morin and Jeff Lydenberg will present a brief overview of what we’ve learned about QCDs, both outright and to fund life income gifts. They will review the essentials of these gifts, offer advice on promoting QCDs to donors, and flag some pitfalls. Kara and Jeff will dedicate the bulk of the webinar to answering questions from the audience about QCDs.

Presented by
Kara Morin

and
Jeff Lydenberg

Thursday,
September 26, 2024
1:00 - 2:00 pm ET


REGISTER

UPCOMING TRAININGS

GiftWrap Introductory

September 25-26, online (6 hours over 2 days)

GiftWrap Advanced

October 16-17, online (4 hours over 2 days)

Gift Planning with PGM Anywhere – Advanced

October 28, In-Person (Orlando, FL, before the 2024 CGP Conference)

PGM Anywhere and Gift Annuities

November 13-14, online (4 hours over 2 days)

VIEW

Quick Tip: Running Year End Update in GiftWrap and Bequest Manager

GiftWrap and Bequest Manager clients sometimes call regarding problems with processing deaths. They receive an error message informing the user that the date of death exceeds the current organization year. This happens when the organization is still set in a prior year in GiftWrap or Bequest Manager, and it’s an easy problem to fix. It simply requires running Year End Update under the Actions tab.

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Click on your Organization’s nickname.

If you see 2023 in the Current Organization Year, enter 2024 in the Update to Year field and click Update. This will enable you to enter deaths that occurred this year.

If you see 2024 in the Current Organization Year, wait to enter 2025 until all 2024 payments have been issued for 12/31/2024.

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Ideally, this should be done in late December or early January. GiftWrap clients who process payments (and issue 1099-Rs) are forced to perform this routine before they can proceed with payments and tax reporting in January. But for all Bequest Manager clients – and for GiftWrap clients who do not process payments or tax reporting – this important action can easily be missed. 

Contact us at 888-474-2252 or support@pgcalc.com if you run into any issues.

From the Blog: I Made My QCD CGA, Can I Have a QLAC Now?

Some early adopters of the qualified charitable distribution (QCD) charitable gift annuity have begun to turn their attention to another opportunity to reduce their required minimum distribution: the qualified longevity annuity contract (QLAC). If, like several clients we have heard from, your organization is receiving calls from donors asking if they “can do a QLAC” with your organization, here’s a primer on this vehicle, how it can be used to reduce required minimum distributions from an IRA, why a donor might confuse it with a deferred gift annuity, and some advice on how to redirect a donor’s interest towards a flexible gift annuity.

Read the blog post . . .

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 READ THE BLOG 

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Things We Are Following: DAF Day – Might as Well Get on the Bus

Are you ready for DAF Day? October 10th has been proclaimed the first DAF Day, on which donors will be encouraged to give to their favorite charities from their charitable donor advised funds (DAFs). Like Giving Day, but with more DAFs (and less leftover turkey).

While this seems like an excellent way for a charity to remind donors of the importance of its mission and seek grants from donors’ DAFs that are already earmarked for charitable use, we see this as a golden opportunity for gift planning. What’s better than a one-time gift from a DAF? Convincing your donor to establish succession plans for their DAF to define their legacy and continue to support your mission after they are gone.

Use your DAF Day outreach to start a conversation with your donor about DAF succession planning – and other planned giving opportunities.

Need more information about DAF succession planning and how to use it in your marketing? Read Andrew Palmer’s guide: The Secret to Marketing for DAF Gifts.

Fall Is BatchCalcs Season

Fall is a critical time to engage your donors as they plan for year-end giving. Your fall mailings can show how empowering a planned gift could be to your organization’s mission and how it will enhance your donor’s legacy. However, conveying the particular benefits of a gift annuity to your donors can be difficult.

That’s where PG Calc’s BatchCalcs service comes in. We create customized gift annuity calculations for each donor on your mailing list, so your mailing can provide a gift suggestion tailored to each one and show donors specifically how they will benefit.

If you are looking to solicit gift annuities, BatchCalcs is a powerful tool to personalize your mailing campaign with gift information based on each prospect’s age and target gift amount.

Talk to us about incorporating BatchCalcs into your fall mailings.

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 TALK ABOUT BATCHCALCS 

CGP Conference 2024 logo

See You at CGP

PG Calc is once again proud to sponsor the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners and will be attending the 2024 CGP Conference in Orlando, Florida October 28-30. Come say hello to PG Calc in booths 100/200 in the Solutions Center.

You can also see PG Calc team members in these sessions:

Oct. 28, 1:00 pm Pre-Conference Session:
Gift Planning Fundamentals: Tools & Techniques

If you are new to gift planning, need a refresher, or are a development generalist, PG Calc Senior Advisor Craig Wruck will provide an overview of gift planning and the tools you need to make the most of it.

Oct 28, 4:00 pm Hall of Fame Panel
PG Calc President Gary Pforzheimer will join Hall of Fame inductees Bruce Bigelow, Senior Partner of Charitable Development Consulting, and Angie Sosdian, Executive Director at The Nature Conservancy, on the CGP Leadership Institute Hall of Fame Panel for a Q&A.

Oct. 29, 2:00 pm Session:
Cash, Securities, or QCD? What Should Your Donor Give?

PG Calc’s Vice President of Product Management Bill Laskin and Vice President of Consulting Jeff Lydenberg will review the QCD rules when making an outright gift or funding a life income plan, as well as the rules that apply to required minimum distributions (RMDs) and the key questions you should ask your donor to help them identify the best asset for funding their gift.

See you in Orlando!

PGM Anywhere Advanced Training in Advance of CGP

Please join us in Orlando, Florida on Monday, October 28th, the day before the Charitable Gift Planners conference, for in-person training on advanced topics in planned giving.

We’ll take a lab-based approach to modeling gifts of non-cash assets, with a particular focus on the flexible use of the flip CRUT. We’ll cover the ins and outs of retained life estates, as well as charitable lead trusts, and other advanced gift planning topics. This session will utilize PGM Anywhere, and attendees will leave having modeled multiple gift plans.

Training is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Rosen Centre Hotel, the location for the CGP Conference. Learn more and register here.

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REGISTER

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Join Our Team!

If you enjoy using our software, and you love the field of planned giving, consider joining our team!

We currently have an opening for a Client Services Advisor. This team member will assist our clients with questions about planned gifts, modeling gifts in PGM Anywhere, and administering planned gifts using GiftWrap. If you’re comfortable with planned gift fundamentals and you want to build upon that foundation, check out our listing here:

www.pgcalc.com/about/careers

Credit Card Convenience Fee

Due to the high cost of credit card processing fees, PG Calc will need to pass along a convenience fee for payments made by credit card for charges over $1,000. If you choose to pay by credit card an amount over $1,000, 3% will be added to your total.

To avoid this fee, you can pay by a check sent to our lockbox or pay electronically by Automated Clearing House (ACH). Detailed instructions for all three payment methods are included on our invoices.

Thank you for your business and your understanding.

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Salesian Missions Logo

For 18 Years, Salesian Missions Has Seen Positive Returns in CGA Appeals Using BatchCalcs

“At Salesian Missions, we have been using the BatchCalcs service for the past 18 years. Normally, we do three BatchCalcs mailing appeals during the year: spring, summer and during the holidays and, if there are changes in the payout rates set by the ACGA, we include an extra one. During those 18 years, every single one of the mailings has resulted in a positive rate of return, enhancing our annuity pool portfolio from our existing annuitants. Your current annuitants are the best audience to stay in touch with and remind them of the benefits of establishing another Charitable Gift Annuity to support the mission work. There is no better way to do this but with the BatchCalcs service provided by PG Calc.”

-- Ana Maria Lang
Planned Giving Specialist
Salesian Missions

Learn more about the Salesian Missions.

Learn about using PG Calc’s BatchCalcs personalized calculations in your appeals.