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Question: My current planned giving provider offers too many choices, and I don’t use most of them. What are three things I should focus on to grow my program? First step: Clean your donor data (update age, wealth, marital status, income, address, deceased, etc.) to maximize time and budget with Sharpe’s Data Services. With our …Read More
Donor advised funds continue to be a major source of revenue for charities. Some key findings from The Annual DAF Report 2025 authored by the DAF Research Collaborative: 1,485 DAF sponsors managed 3.56 million DAF accounts in FY 2024. Grants from DAFs increased by 19% to $64.89 billion in FY 2024. Contributions to DAFs …Read More
Here are some tips to help you stay on course for planned giving success. 1. Stay on top of economic conditions. With fluctuations in the economy and prices continuing to rise, donors will be more receptive to gift plans that offer a greater degree of certainty, like charitable gift annuities or gifts with additional tax …Read More
The dramatic gains of the last 10 years in the capital markets compel trustees of charitable lead annuity trusts (CLATs) to examine whether the moment of commutation has arrived. Private Letter Ruling 202614004 (4/3/2026) addressed the three primary tax risks in attempting a commutation. 1. No Self-Dealing Section 4941 imposes an excise tax on each …Read More
But wait, there’s more! Although we’ve dedicated most of this month’s Insights content to financial literacy, April is also National Poetry Month. (Who else was required to recite The General Prologue from Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in high school? Yay iambic pentameter! Yay Middle English! “Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote…”) In honor …Read More
Though planned giving professionals don’t need to be tax experts, it is important to be conversational in some of the financial and estate planning terminology and gift planning concepts. Find out how much you know and maybe learn something new! 1. Administration expenses are costs necessarily incurred in which of the following? Commissions. Attorney’s fees. …Read More
Effective Dec. 24, 2025, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) clarified that a postmark generally reflects when mail is processed at a USPS facility, not when it is dropped off or accepted. This change may affect whether mailed tax documents are considered timely filed. The IRS applies a strict mailbox rule, relying on the postmark date …Read More
The oldest Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are celebrating their 80th birthdays this year! What is the best way to communicate planned giving information with this “graying” group? Print! Look to the Sharpe Gift Planning Matrix® when you plan your target marketing. For the wealthy boomers: Noncash gifts (appreciated securities, collections and real estate), QCDs, DAFs, …Read More
By Bob Mims, CPA, CGMA One of my favorite scenes from Schitt’s Creek is when Moira Rose is trying to teach her son, David, to cook a family favorite. When the recipe called for “folding in the cheese,” David was baffled and inquired what that meant. Moira, who has no idea, continues to say, “You …Read More
And now, for something fun. March has a lot to celebrate. Did you know these March facts? The Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, was signed on March 1, 1872, making it the first national park in the U.S. National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day is celebrated on March 1. Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the …Read More