New Rates? What Should I do?

On November 22, 2019, the American Council on Gift Annuities (ACGA) announced new suggested maximum gift annuity rates to replace the rates that became effective on July 1, 2018. The new rates will apply to gift annuities established on or after January 1, 2020, although you may use the new rates immediately. These new rates are moderately lower than the ones they replace; you can read our complete analysis of the new rates here.

What does this mean for your gift annuity marketing?

Despite the reduction in annuity rates, gift annuities will continue to be an attractive gift vehicle for donors who wish to support your organization’s mission and are also interested in receiving fixed payments for life. While there is little time left in the year before these new rates take effect, there are some initiatives you can pursue to engage potential donors. For example, for PG Calc’s Marketing Services clients, we are posting an announcement of the rate change on all their website gift annuity pages (immediate, deferred, and flexible), and will be updating all calculators, rate tables and examples on January 1, 2020, or earlier if requested. We also will give our PG Calc clients the option to further publicize this change on their planned giving home pages.

In addition to the strategies described above, there is an opportunity to target well-qualified prospects in the near term. These are donors who are currently considering a gift annuity, or who have funded a gift annuity in the past and, being familiar with the gift annuity concept, are more likely to fund a new gift annuity. For our marketing clients interested in reaching out to individual donors, we have written an email message that can be sent out immediately to near-term prospects. We do not recommend sending a mass mailing about the rate change at this time as it may cause you to chase unqualified leads rather than focus on more well-qualified prospects during the few weeks that the higher current rates will remain in effect.

The ACGA rate change is an opportunity for you to motivate your best gift annuity prospects to take action. Make sure your donors know they need to make their gift before the end of the year to secure a higher rate. If you are interested in having us help you with planned giving marketing initiatives, now or in the future, please contact Dave Wolfe, Director of Sales, at 888-497-4970.