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eRate Newsletter | August 16, 2022

IRS DISCOUNT RATE: September 3.6%

The Geomorphology of Planned Giving

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Craig Wruck once worked with a geologist who suggested that planned giving could take some valuable lessons from the field of geomorphology. Both geology and planned giving involve dynamic relationships that change slowly over time and processes that are not readily amenable to experimentation or precise measurement. Both fields are cursed with uncertainty and complexity with long periods of small incremental change punctuated by large-scale events. And geologists and planned giving officers must wrestle with expectations that they should be able to precisely predict events that are stubbornly unpredictable.

Over the years, much has been written about “metrics” for planned giving programs. At first blush, it seems simple: just count the money as it comes in. However, tying results to current activity is more complicated when it comes to planned gifts.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE    PRINT THE FULL ARTICLE

WEBINAR August 25

How to Jump Start Your PG Program:
A Case Study

Do you know how to make your planned giving program succeed? In this webinar, Jeff Lydenberg will work through a case study to look at best practices and how to evaluate if your program is meeting its potential. He will cover how to structure and operate a sustainable planned gift fundraising effort, ways to improve efficiency and processes, and how to build institutional buy-in for program support and resources. He will also look at key metrics to measure and motivate performance.

Presented by
Jeff Lydenberg

Thursday,
August 25, 2022
1:00 - 2:30 pm ET


REGISTER

UPCOMING TRAINING

PGM Anywhere and Gift Annuities

August 17-18, Online (4 hours over 2 days)

PGM to PGM Anywhere FREE

September 7, Online (90 minutes)

PGM Anywhere and Charitable Remainder Trusts

September 14-15, Online (4 hours over 2 days)

PGM Anywhere Introductory

September 21, In person, Boston, MA (9-4 ET)
VIEW

Quick Tip: How to Help Donors Escape from a Pooled Income Fund

Nobody likes pooled income funds (PIFs) anymore! Potential new donors feel that they don’t distribute enough income, and sponsoring charities continue paying disproportionate fees for the ongoing maintenance of a long-term gift vehicle that is slowly dying by attrition. But a charity cannot simply declare that a PIF is to be closed; the pooled income fund is, in fact, a type of charitable reminder trust, albeit one with multiple donors and multiple beneficiaries. An existing PIF cannot be closed out by the charity until the last remaining participant dies.

But there is an exception (isn’t there always?): an existing PIF can be closed if each remaining participant agrees to relinquish his or her remaining life interest in the PIF. Why would they do that? Possibly because, out of generosity, they want to accelerate the charitable remainder gift; also, perhaps, because they would like an additional charitable income tax deduction for relinquishing their income interest; but also, quite possibly, because they are sick and tired of waiting until June or July of each year to receive the tax reporting form (K-1) for the previous calendar year!

The good news is that it’s easy to run the calculations for voluntary PIF terminations in PG Calc’s gift planning illustrations software PGM Anywhere or Planned Giving Manager (“desktop PGM”). The software user only needs a few pieces of information to run the calculations: the date of birth for each participant, the most recent market value of each person’s participation (units), and the highest pooled income fund annual rate of return for the three previous calendar years. This information is entered into the software to produce the one-page Non-Charitable Interest Actuarials chart. The last figure on the page – “Value of Life Interest” – is the amount of charitable deduction that the donor is typically allowed to claim.

PG Calc’s Client Services team will be happy to walk you through the actual calculations process whenever you are ready. Just give us a call at 1-888-474-2252 or email support@pgcalc.com.

Note: The donor of a PIF life interest needs a qualified appraisal of the life interest to declare it as a charitable deduction if it is over $5,000. PG Calc offers this appraisal service. Please contact Audra Tango at appraisals@pgcalc.com for more information.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders on the Senate steps

From the Blog: Gift Planning and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

Bernie Sanders has been the butt of some memes, but this picture may summarize the exhaustion around the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Senator Sanders was taking a break from the Vote-a-Rama during passage of the bill in the Senate. The measure passed the Senate and House and was signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022. The legislation represents a major shift in healthcare, climate, and taxation policy.

What, if anything, does the bill mean for gift planners? Directly, it doesn’t mean much. Indirectly, the law may affect some donor behavior, which is something gift planners should consider.
 READ THE BLOG POST 

Free Info Session Recording Available: The Secret to Endowment Fundraising

Endowments are a powerful tool in any philanthropic organization’s arsenal but can bring on complex and difficult accounting responsibilities. As you seek to combine various donations for investment purposes, it is critical to maintain detailed records of individual gifts or funds for accounting and donor reporting purposes.

Last Wednesday, PG Calc President Gary Pforzheimer presented the info session, The Secret to Endowment Fundraising: How Endowment Sub-Accounting Can Help You Close and Steward Endowment Gifts. In it, he outlines tips, tricks, and best practices for multi-level endowment sub-accounting and how it can ultimately empower your organization's fundraising.

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 Download the Recording 

Training

We’re Back! PG Calc Returns to In-Person Training This Fall

In the spring, we dipped our toes back into in-person training by offering our PGM Anywhere training in Cambridge, MA and Costa Mesa, CA. It was great to see clients in real life, and we’re wading further into in-person trainings this September with two days of training in Boston. If all goes well, we plan to also offer training in November in Washington, DC.

Please join us September 21st and 22nd in Boston, for PGM Anywhere Introductory and PGM Anywhere Advanced, both days from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm ET.

PGM Anywhere Introductory will cover gift planning basics, with a focus on charitable gift annuities and charitable remainder trusts, while PGM Anywhere Advanced will tackle retained life estates, lead trusts, and testamentary gift plans. Register for one or both days, depending on your schedule and training needs.

COVID Protocols: The expectation is that all attendees are vaccinated and boosted. We will follow all governmental requirements in effect at the time of the training. COVID protocols are always subject to change, and we will notify all trainees of any substantive changes prior to the sessions. For those not able to travel this fall, we continue to offer a robust schedule of virtual classes.

Please bring your laptop and your gift planning questions, from the basic to the arcane. We look forward to connecting with you! For more information, or to register, please click the button below:

Register for Training

Enhance Your Fall Gift Annuity Mailing with BatchCalcs

Every year, our BatchCalcs service helps charities engage with thousands of gift annuity donors and prospects in a more personal way. Fall mailings make September and October our busiest time of year for BatchCalcs.

What is BatchCalcs?

BatchCalcs is a PG Calc service that enables you to include personalized gift annuity calculations in each email message or printed letter in a mailing. Some clients include just the annuity rate the prospect would get, while others enclose a Summary of Benefits chart that displays the charitable deduction, annuity amount, and taxation of the annuity if the prospect were to give a specified amount. All we need from you is an Excel file with a birth date or age and an ID for each prospect. You can specify the gift amount for each prospect, too, if you wish. You get back your Excel file with calculated values added and, if you wish, a file of letters or Summary of Benefits charts with values merged into them.

If you want to use BatchCalcs to personalize your gift annuity mailing or just want to learn more about it, please contact Dave Wolfe at dwolfe@pgcalc.com or call 1-888-497-4970.

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See You Soon at a Conference Near You

We are thrilled at the return of so many conferences for gift planners this summer and fall, and we look forward to seeing you in person or virtually soon.

Here's where we'll be:
See Our Conference Schedule 

PG Calc’s Associate Director for Gift Planning Jeffrey Frye Is a Huge Asset to Jimmy Kinlaw at the Christian Broadcasting Network

“CBN’s Treasury and Planned Giving programs have been using GiftWrap for years, but yesterday was my first introduction to the system. We need to prepare for the measurement of annuities written to CBN for the benefit of certain related organizations. Jeffrey took the time to explain how to set up designation accounts for the related entities, how to update their current market values and how to use CashTrac to apply future earnings to those related annuities. He was kind, patient and explained things very well. Jeffrey is a huge asset to your customer support team, and I wanted to pass on my appreciation to you.”

—Jimmy Kinlaw
Tax Director
The Christian Broadcasting Network

Learn more about The Christian Broadcasting Network.

Meet the PG Calc Client Services team supporting GiftWrap.

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Sales: info@pgcalc.com 888-497-4970
Support: support@pgcalc.com 888-474-2252