Planned Giving Insights and Information

Pitfalls to Avoid When You’re New to Your Planned Giving Office

If you’re new to your role in planned giving, either because you’re covering for someone on leave, you’ve had planned giving added to your major gift responsibilities, or you’re new to the field - welcome aboard! PG Calc is invested in your success, and we’ve gathered a list of planned giving pitfalls that could get you in hot water with donors, auditors, or the IRS that we hope to help you avoid.

BDQ #2: I Don’t Have an RMD, So Why Would I Want a QCD?

The BDQ (Big Dumb Question) We’ve all been there: at some point during a presentation someone says, “This may be a dumb question, but…” and the presenter (hopefully in a gracious tone of voice) says, “There’s no such thing as a dumb question,” before providing the obvious answer. But sometimes, just to yourself, you have to admit you were wondering about the same thing. That’s the idea behind this occasional series we’re calling “The Big Dumb Question” (or BDQ). Our aim is to provide easy to understand answers to basic gift planning questions – the kinds of questions you may be reluctant to ask. We’ve got a list of topics in mind (see below). I Don’t Have an RMD, So Why Would I Want a QCD? “I prefer the large confusion to the small certainty,” said poet John Ciardi. That’s a healthy approach when thinking about Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD) and Required Minimum Distributions (RMD). There is a large confusing array of initials – RMDs and QCDs, QRPs and IRAs, to name a...

BDQ #1: What Is a Charitable Gift Annuity, and Why Would a Donor Want One?

The BDQ (Big Dumb Question) We’ve all been there: at some point during a presentation someone says, “This may be a dumb question, but…” and the presenter (hopefully in a gracious tone of voice) says, “There’s no such thing as a dumb question,” before providing the obvious answer. But sometimes, just to yourself, you have to admit you were wondering about the same thing. That’s the idea behind this occasional series we’re calling “The Big Dumb Question” (or BDQ). Our aim is to provide easy to understand answers to basic gift planning questions – the kinds of questions you may be reluctant to ask. We’ve got a list of topics in mind (see below). Our very first BDQ is: What Is a Charitable Gift Annuity, and Why Would a Donor Want One? At the most basic level, a charitable gift annuity is simply a promise by a charity to pay a certain amount of money to someone each year for life. A charity makes this promise, in the form of a legal contract, in exchange for a charitable...

Why Are the K-1s Late Again This Year?  Why Are They Late Every Year??

It happens every year – your gift annuity donors received their 1099-R forms at the end of January, and everyone was happy. But once the calendar turned to February, the calls started coming in from your charitable remainder trust donors; they are looking for their K-1 forms, which report the income they received from their trusts. If you have a pooled income fund, you’re getting calls from those donors too, because they are also entitled to a K-1 form. And once the calendar turns into March, the calls get uglier. Everyone expected to receive their tax forms around the end of January, because that’s when all tax forms are due, right?