PG Calc Blog

On May 8, 2020, the American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) announced there would be new suggested maximum gift annuity rates, effective July 1, 2020, to replace the rates that became effective on January 1, 2020. The ACGA released the new 1-life annuity rates on May 29, 2020 and the 2-life annuity rates on June 11, 2020. The ACGA’s decision to reduce its suggested maximum gift annuity rates was triggered by the plunge in interest rates starting in mid-February, one of the countless consequences of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Less is often more. With a charitable gift annuity, a donor accepting a lower charitable deduction may mean more for the donor in tax savings. That might seem counterintuitive, but a combination of an historically low discount rate and an increased standard deduction can have tax implications for a donor considering a gift annuity for your charity. For gift officers, the message is to illustrate all the tax options and let the donor and their advisor decide which alternative best suits their objectives.

On March 27, 2020, I posted an article on the CARES Act and its implications for gift planning. Here is an update to that original post. The "Are planned gifts eligible" and "What about married couples" sections are new.   The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, which the President signed into law on March 27th, provides more than $2 trillion in relief touching nearly every corner of the U.S. economy: large and small businesses, health care providers, non-profits, individual citizens, and on and on. Included in its 880 pages are several provisions of particular interest to gift planners and to fundraisers generally. Let’s go through them. I’ll start with the most dramatic change.

These are truly historic times. The United States – along with the rest of the world – is in the grips of a pandemic that most of us could never imagine, even in our worst nightmares. At the time of this writing, the deaths within our borders alone are running into tens of thousands, and the global number of cases is now being counted in millions. Most of the country is under some sort of stay-at-home mandate, our economy has basically sputtered to a crawl, and our stock markets appear to be in a continual free-fall. These are desperate times, when everyday Americans are fearful for their lives, and for the safety and well-being of their loved ones. Beyond those immediate concerns, folks are worried about their jobs and the sudden declines in the values of their retirement accounts. How can we presume that donors will think about planned gifts – or charitable gifts of any kind – at a time like this?

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, which the President signed into law on March 27th, provides more than $2 trillion in relief touching nearly every corner of the U.S. economy: large and small businesses, health care providers, non-profits, individual citizens, and on and on. Included in its 880 pages are several provisions of particular interest to gift planners and to fundraisers generally. Let’s go through them. I’ll start with the most dramatic change.