Dealing with prospective donors face-to-face can be key to raising major individual gifts; however, with the rising concern over the COVID-19 Coronavirus things may become more complicated. Here are some best practices and alternatives to consider. When meeting face-to-face, practice “social distancing”. Maintain a three to six-foot distance between you and those you are meeting. …Read More
In this ongoing blog, I write a fair amount about gift planning strategies. For example, the last two blog pieces were about planning strategies with PIFs. And, in real life, my only clients are charities. But I earn my living pretty much not by crafting gift planning strategies, but by solving problems and answering questions. …Read More
Last time, we looked at the total return PIF. It turns out, IRS regs also permit a pooled unitrust. It’s a pooled income fund that makes a unitrust payout. It works from a tax standpoint like a regular PIF with one catch. To understand the “catch”, we need to understand how a garden variety PIF …Read More
I’m a tax lawyer, not an economist, but in my experience and thinking, interest rates play a far bigger role in gift planning than tax laws. Back in the early 1980s, when interest rates were sky-high, practically no one wanted a gift annuity. Those were the hey days of pooled income funds. Today, in an …Read More
Some information you may find helpful. First, for individuals who attain 70.5 years of age after 2019, the age at which RMDs must begin is raised to age 72. Age 70.5 continues to be the age at which QCDs (so-called IRA rollover gifts to charity) can begin to be made…but for individuals who haven’t reached …Read More
Author note: This is an opinion piece. Feel free to disagree. At the CGP national conference in New Orleans in October 2019, much discussion occurred in the Leadership session about the charitable gift planning opportunities under the SECURE Act, which was recently signed into law. The SECURE Act eliminates the stretch-out IRA for non-spouse …Read More
Some charities count bequest provisions in wills of living individuals. Usually, the charity requires a copy of that portion of the will that provides for the charity. If it were up to me, I’d use the “two sets of books” approach discussed last time in connection with pledges. For “public consumption” I’d have a minimum …Read More
Last time, we considered situations in which the donee organization receives an asset currently. Now let’s look at some situations in which the donee is sure or pretty sure of receiving assets not currently but over time. The most common such situation is a pledge that is solid. “Solid” meaning likely to be paid. Charities …Read More
The end of one year and the beginning of another always marks a busy season for those engaged in charitable gift development activities. Recent tax law changes and economic factors give us more reasons to make our “to-do” lists. “To do” at the end of 2019 December 31 falls on a Tuesday this year. Have …Read More
I get this question a lot. The answer isn’t provided by tax law, because the tax law is unconcerned about gift counting. Nonetheless, the tax law applies to the date of gift, for example. As a result, a counting decision in some situations — say, when to count a year-end gift — may wind up …Read More