Planned Giving Insights and Information

Exchanging One Life Income Gift for Another

It is not unusual that a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) or pooled income fund (PIF) gift made by a donor years ago no longer meets the donor’s or charity’s financial objectives. A trust donor may fear that a stock market correction will deflate trust assets and her income. Or a trust with a high payout rate may be headed toward trust assets exhausting. A charity’s pooled income fund may have only a few remaining participants and the charity desires to terminate the fund because of excessive fees.

When a Steady Income Is Better Than a Big Inheritance

Testamentary gifts (gifts made at death) are the most common type of planned gift, estimated to be 80% or more of planned gifts received by charities. Donors typically have to confront complicated family and financial issues in the estate planning process. Ask any gift officer who has been involved in planned gift fundraising. They can tell of donors sharing compelling stories of family addictions, marriage instability, costly medical conditions, and financial mismanagement. Donors anguish over leaving a potentially large inheritance to a family member who may lack the skills to prudently manage the inheritance. To complicate matters further, the donor is conflicted about making a final gift to a favorite charity from their estate that will divert assets away from a family member in need of financial support. A testamentary life income gift that will pay steady income to their family member for life, with the remainder going to charity when the life income gift terminates, may be the...

Don't Cross the Red Line

The role of the gift officer is becoming increasingly complex. New tax laws and IRS regulations are placing gift officers at risk for crossing a red line that should never be crossed – the line between gift officer and financial or tax advisor. Even though much information may have been shared with them by the donor, gift officers need to know how to provide information to a donor without making assumptions about a donor’s complete financial or tax situation – assumptions that may be wrong and that could result in a donor not realizing the tax benefits they were assured of receiving.

Half a Loaf Is Better than None

Astute gift officers recognize opportunities for giving, and then seize the day! Such is the moment in some red-hot real estate markets where prices are exceeding the highs reached prior to the Great Recession. Owners who watched as their equity evaporated during the downturn may now be thinking this is the time to cash in on their profits. This may particularly be the case for donors who own infrequently used vacation homes and investors with rental properties who no longer wish to deal with tenant idiosyncrasies. However, sellers of these properties will not receive the generous exemption from capital gains taxes afforded to those who sell a principal residence.