800.342.2375 
Given the importance of year-end giving, several national events have been established to help nonprofits promote fundraising. These campaigns may help bring extra awareness to your fundraising programs. National Estate Planning Awareness Week: Oct. 18-24, 2021. This week offers an opportunity to partner with estate planners in your area to educate your donors about charitable …Read More
Sharpe Insights Articles
Searching for a specific article? Access every article since 1997 to find what you’re looking for.
The New Tax Economics of Charitable Giving?
By Professor Christopher Woehrle, JD, LLM Critics of the estate tax describe it as “taxation without respiration.” The proposal from the Biden Administration to tax unrealized gains at death might be called “recognition of income without the realization event.” Furthermore, transfers to noncharitable donees during lifetime will generate income taxation to the donor. The amount …Read More
Why and How To Use Donor Data
As a fundraiser, your most precious and important asset is your donor data. Understanding how to best use it is another matter. It is extremely important to segment your donors into groupings based on your charity’s priorities of fundraising. Sharpe uses the donor matrix shown below to help charities with their planning, budgeting, resource allocations …Read More
The End Is Near!! A Message From Our CEO
These words can be said with either hope or dread, but for fundraising folks, this is a phrase uttered year after year in September. The often frantic push to connect with donors with the capacity to make a large gift or include a charity in their estate plan often becomes the traditional focus of most …Read More
Giving Sets Overall Record for 2020!
By Barlow Mann, J.D. The reports are in for charitable giving in 2020, and the results are unanimous. Three widely followed reports on charitable giving indicated that overall giving increased between 2% and 10.6% in spite of the unprecedented events of 2020. The Blackbaud Institute’s Charitable Giving Report cited an increase of 2% in giving. …Read More
Unpleasant Surprises Lurking for Split-Interest Gifts in Future Tax Changes?
By Professor Christopher P. Woehrle, J.D., LL.M A charitable remainder trust permits annuitization of the full value of the appreciated asset without the donor incurring a capital gains tax. For the charitably inclined, the technique facilitates diversification of a portfolio and potential improvement of cash flow. The Biden Administration’s General Explanations of Fiscal Year 2022 …Read More
Take the Long View—A Message From Our CEO
Like it or not, the key for a truly successful planned giving/endowment development strategy is to “take the long view.” Based on nearly 60 years of analyzing charities’ bequests, our research that forms the Sharpe KnowledgeBase® includes two important findings: First, you want to be in the LAST will because it’s the document that provides …Read More
We Can Make This “S” Car Go: A Message From Our CEO
I’m a car guy. Over the course of my lifetime, I have owned many cars, the first one being a used 1953 Plymouth Coupe. My first new car was a black 1964 two-door Dodge Polara 500 with red and white interior, bucket seats and a center console. I migrated to convertibles starting with a 1970 …Read More
Back to the Basics: How a Program Assessment Was the Key to Success for The Wilderness Society
By Ainsley Willis Sharpe Insights talked to Sean Twomey, director of planned giving at The Wilderness Society, about his experience with Sharpe’s planned giving program assessment and its positive impact on their planned giving program. Sharpe conducted the initial assessment in 2008 and a revision in 2014—before Sean joined the staff. The Wilderness Society is …Read More
Women and Planned Giving: Working With Widows
By John Jensen, CFP® In a recent Sharpe Group blog, “Women and Giving,” senior consultant Kristin Croone outlined some notable differences between charitable giving by men and women that should be kept in mind when communicating with your female donors. Women live, on average, five years longer than men. Women control the majority of personal …Read More