Planned Giving Insights and Information

Beware CGA Rate Shoppers

The rate to be offered to your interested donor, per your organization’s policies, is 6.5%. So what do you do if your donor asks if you can go a little higher, maybe a rate of 6.8%? And then lets you know that another charity is willing to offer that? How do you suppress the urge to waive your policy in order to not “lose” the gift, particularly since these situations often arise in the context of an exceptionally large contribution amount – which is precisely when you don’t want to increase the risk to your organization? To help stamp out the urge to participate in rate shopping, it helps to understand how policy decisions affect your program, and the impact bumping up your rates can have on its success.

Predicting Planned Giving Performance

What are the rhythm and metrics of planned giving? You’re focused on your organization’s planned giving program and under pressure to justify your budget, in terms of return on the dollar. And – just a hypothetical, of course – perhaps your organization has new leadership that seems especially fond of that old bromide, “what gets measured gets managed.” The answer always seems so simple to others in the organization: just count the dollars as they are received and compare to expenditures. Of course, we know that planned giving is more subtle than that. Measuring planned giving revenue is more complicated, and we know it’s nearly impossible to correlate current fundraising activity to dollars received today. Most often, the money isn’t received until the end of one or two lifetimes. Donors don’t always inform you of their generosity in advance. Estate distributions can come as a pleasant surprise, but it’s common to discover the catalyst for the gift was an action taken by a planned...

Gift Planning and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

Bernie Sanders has been the butt of some memes, but the picture above 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.

Good News About New York Maximum Annuity Rates for Q3 2022

There is good news for charities that issue annuities in New York! The maximum annuity rates allowed by New York for gift annuities issued to a New York donor in the third quarter of 2022 increased significantly from their second quarter levels. They increased enough, in fact, that New York’s maximum single-life annuity rates for Q3 2022 are higher than the corresponding ACGA rates for all male and female ages, even though the ACGA suggested maximum rates increased as of July 1. This means charities can offer the ACGA rates to New York donors of single-life annuities funded from July 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022, regardless of the annuitant’s age and gender.